Magnolia University
by Marshtompz
Summary: Modern Slice-of-Life Fairy Tail College AU! A lot happens, and it's either very fluffy or very angsty no in between. Ships: Nalu, Gruvia, Gale/Gajevy, Jerza, and a little bit of Zervis, Aquario, Lories, Kinabra, Bixanna, Elfever, and Baccana! Please read and review! *TRIGGER WARNING* Rated T for themes of suicide and actual death (no suicide-related deaths though)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's**** Note: Hello! This is my first story that I'm posting to this site! I really hope you enjoy it, and make sure to review please! This is a Fairy Tail AU, with Nalu, Gruvia, Gale, and Jerza.**

**Edit (7/18/19): Hello again! It's been a while since I've done anything for this story! I think I fried my brain uploading chapters every other day with an average of 2.5k, so I kinda came to a standstill with this story. I truly apologize. A few new friends of mine are reading this and because of that, I have motivation to edit it and possibly finish it! I hope you enjoy. The ships in this story are Nalu, Gruvia, Gale/Gajevy, Jerza, with a little bit of Zervis, Aquario, Lories, Kinabra, Bixanna, Elfever, and Baccana! Each chapter alternates from a different perspective (still in third person), mainly revolving around the people in the first four ships mentioned! I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Lucy_

To say that Lucy Heartfilia was nervous was a rather large understatement, to say the least. Poor Lucy had never felt so overwhelmed in her lifetime, but such was expected for a moment like this. When she was younger, Lucy had run away from her father to live a life where she was free to make her own decisions, without anyone doing anything for her unless she had asked for help. Lucy managed to end up in a nearby town called Magnolia.

Lucy was proud to live in Magnolia, and wanted nothing more than to enroll in Magnolia University. Magnolia University was known for being a great school despite having numerous majors. Lucy, being the smart and capable woman she had grown up to be, was easily able to get that letter back in the mail signifying her acceptance to the college. Now that she was here, however, she wanted nothing more than to run away and hide. Freshman at MU are required to live in the dorms, unless they're approved by the principal to stay at home. Unfortunately for Lucy, her home was too far away to even consider talking to the principal about approval.

Key in hand, Lucy nervously looked up at the door. There was a beautiful wooden plaque on it with golden cursive letters and numbers 223-A. This was her room, no doubt, but getting the room right wasn't what scared her. What scared Lucy the most was finding out who her roommate would be.

Lucy had been alone for all of her life, practically. She had lived 12 years of her life in a giant mansion with her father, Jude, a rich widower who spent all of his time on his job. He hardly ever spared Lucy a single glance. She was instead raised by the house workers, who had homeschooled her as well. The servants were nice to her, and as much as she loved them, Lucy eventually got sick of the social isolation. Not once in her life did she see someone her age, and hardly ever did she go beyond the giant fence that surrounded her mansion.

One day, Lucy finally decided that enough was enough. She grabbed a bag, grabbed some of her belongings, stole some of her dad's cash, and ran away from home without saying goodbye to anyone. She ran as far as she could, and with the help of some kindhearted drivers who had passed by and took pity on the preteen, eventually ended up in Magnolia.

Upon exploring the town, Lucy had stumbled upon a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, Aquarius, who decided to take her in. Aquarius often left Lucy to her own devices, and while she wasn't always the nicest person in the book, Lucy was still thankful to have someone as great and as powerful a figure as Aquarius in her life. Whenever Lucy asked for help, Aquarius would always pull through, even if she had to endure a scolding session from the older blue haired woman.

Lucy could tell that Aquarius cared for her, even if she didn't show it. That's why Lucy couldn't help but cry a little when she got that acceptance letter in the mail. Despite her expression being the usual scowl that Lucy had grown used to, Aquarius had a proud look in her eye mixed with what Lucy thought to be a little bit of sadness. Lucy was more than happy to have been accepted to MU, but was also saddened by the fact that she had to leave the woman who helped her build her independent, confident persona.

But here Lucy was now, face to face with the only thing blocking her from meeting her new roommate. Who knows, maybe her roommate hadn't arrived yet- or maybe she didn't even have one. Lucy sighed, rubbing her temple. She knew for a fact that Magnolia was developing slower than the increase in population would've liked, and that the dorms were most likely full. _I'll have to face my fears eventually, might as well do it now. _Was the thought that rang in Lucy's mind as she nervously unlocked the door, opening it with a shaky hand and timidly looking into the place.

A smile made its way onto Lucy's face upon seeing the room. It was really pretty, with brown flooring and light cream, almost white, walls. There was a loveseat and an arm chair facing a tv, with an open kitchen plan that included a little island. There was a hallway leading to what Lucy assumed was the rooms and the bathroom. "Hello?" Lucy asked, stepping into the room. She couldn't see anyone, however, and if there was a reply to her question then it fell upon deaf ears.

Lucy gulped, closing the door behind her as she set down her suitcase in the main room and walked towards the hallway. There were three doors- one on the left, one in the middle, and one on the right. Lucy presumed that the one in the middle was the bathroom, and that the two side rooms were bedrooms.

_You're gonna have to meet them eventually, _Lucy reassured herself. _Just relax. It can't be that bad, right? _Lucy walked over to the door on the right and grabbed the handle, opening it and sticking her head in. Right in front of her was a bunk bed, with a desk on the bottom and a bed at the top. To the side there was a wardrobe, and past the bed there was a little corner of the room that Lucy couldn't quite see from where she was standing.

Curious, Lucy headed over to the corner. The corner turned out to be a little book corner, with bookcases lining the walls and a lamp that was lit. The most notable thing, however, was the bluenette in the rocking chair right next to the entryway. She looked up from the book she was reading and smiled warmly at Lucy. "Hello!" She greeted cheerily, bouncing up from her seat. "I'm Levy Mcgarden! I assume you're Lucy Heartfilia, right?" She asked, extending her hand to the blonde.

"H-how did you know that?" Lucy asked, blinking in curiosity as she shook her roommate's hand.

"Oh, it was on one of the papers," Levy smiled.

"Oh." Lucy blinked again. She had received a stack of papers with information about the college but she didn't pay it much mind and simply threw it out.

"You didn't read it, did you?" Levy asked, laughing when the blonde shook her head. "Well, I'm a literature major, and a history minor. I want to go to all of the major ancient cities and help with translating their languages!" She smiled.

Lucy's eyes gleamed. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed. "Your dream job sounds so much cooler than mine," she sighed.

"Nonsense!" Levy waved her hand dismissively. "You're an astrology major, right?" She asked.

Lucy nodded. "Astrology major and a Behavioral sciences minor." She informed Levy. "I want to study if and how the alignment of stars and planets affect the zodiac signs!"

"That's even cooler than my major!" Levy laughed. "Anyways, I'm really glad to see that you like the stars!" She grinned. "I think you'll like your room."

Lucy's eyes glowed with excitement. "Let's go!" She said, grabbing Levy's wrist and pulling her with her. Levy barely managed to throw her book onto her chair before she was dragged out of her room.

Lucy's room was mostly normal, with dressers on one side and a desk on the wall straight across from her. Next to the desk was a bed, and next to the bed, which took up the whole wall, was a giant window with the curtains down. Instantly, Lucy made a beeline towards the window, pulling the curtains back and smiling in awe. While they weren't at the top floor of the building, they weren't close to the bottom either, so the window gave her a perfect view of the sky. "Woah," She breathed.

"Cool, right?" Levy asked. All Lucy could do was nod her head. "It's all yours!" She smiled.

Lucy looked at Levy, confused. "Why didn't you pick this room?" She asked.

Levy shrugged. "The windows wouldn't have been of use to me since I just lined up all of my walls with bookshelves." She said, as if it were obvious. "And plus, I knew you would like it since you're an Astrology major!"

"Thank you, Levy!" Lucy engulfed the bluenette in a hug, which Levy happily returned. "You're so kind!"

"It's no problem!" Levy smiled, pulling away from the hug. "We can also go onto the roof, would you like to see?" She asked.

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Let's go!" She put down her suitcase and followed Levy out of the room.

* * *

The roof was actually quite a sight to see- well, at least, what was _on _the roof. It was just an ordinary roof, with a few benches here and there, but Lucy paid no attention to that. The weather was slightly rainy as well, but Lucy paid no attention to that either. What stood out to Lucy was the two people on the rooftop. One was a rather pale girl with long, wavy, cerulean blue hair, splashing a tall, muscular, tan man with long, unruly black hair and tons of body piercings, trying to get the girl to go back inside.

"Come on, Juvia," The man groaned, his voice low and gruff. "We've been out here for ages, don't you wanna head back in soon?" He asked.

"It's only been five minutes!" Juvia frowned.

"Five minutes too long!" The man complained.

Juvia splashed him in the face in reply, sticking out her tongue. "You're no fun, Gajeel!" She whined.

"Who are those two?" Lucy asked.

Levy simply smiled, watching her two friends bicker with one another. "The girl is Juvia, and the guy is Gajeel. They're brother and sister, believe it or not. They moved here from Oak Town a few years back. I'll introduce you to them, come on."

Levy and Lucy approached the two siblings, who had stopped to look at the two girls. "Hello, Levy!" Juvia greeted.

"Gihihi, hey shrimp." Gajeel greeted, patting Levy's head and ruffling her hair.

Levy angrily swatted Gajeel's hand out of the way, pouting at him and then smiling at Juvia. "Hey guys, meet my new roommate, Lucy!"

Lucy smiled at the two siblings. "It's nice to meet you!" She gave a small wave of her hand.

Juvia's eyes lit up. "You're so pretty!" She complimented.

"Thank you!" Lucy giggled.

"I'm Juvia!" The blunette grinned.

"And I'm Gajeel." Gajeel chimed in. "Nice to me-"

Gajeel was interrupted by the loud sound of thunder rolling in the distance. "We should really head inside, huh?" Levy suggested.

"I've been trying to say that for a while now, but _someone,_" Gajeel looked at Juvia, elbowing her side. "wouldn't _listen._"

"Juvia has no idea what Gajeel is talking about." Juvia said in a teasing manner, turning her head away from her brother and crossing her arms. She glanced back towards the taller boy and had to hold back her laughter at her brother's annoyed expression.

"Well, you two can stay out, but Lucy and I are gonna head back in." Levy told the two.

"Okay, bye Levy! Bye Lucy! It was nice meeting you!" Juvia waved to them.

"Aren't we going too?" Gajeel asked his sister.

"You can go," Juvia waved a hand in the air dismissively. "I want to stay out here, though."

Gajeel groaned in exasperation. "Didn't you just hear the thunder?!"

Levy and Lucy looked at one another, shrugging and then heading back inside, leaving Gajeel to try and reason with his sister. As they were heading inside, Lucy nudged Levy. "Levy, you didn't tell me about you and Gajeel," She cooed.

"Hm?" Levy tilted her head slightly in question, oblivious as to what her friend was implying.

"You two look so cute together!" Lucy exclaimed.

"N-no!" Levy blushed, waving her hands and shaking her head wildly. "It's not like that, we're just friends!"

"Mhm," Lucy nodded, an evil glint in her eyes. "Sure,"

"You suck!" Levy playfully punched the side of Lucy's arm, who simply laughed in response.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: A big thank you to everyone who read my story! And a special thanks to kroetzski100 for giving me a review! It was a simple review, but it really meant the world to me! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, cause I sure enjoyed writing it!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Erza_

Erza had been going to school for a good 15 years now, this being her 16th and final year. Meeting teachers and making good first impressions came natural to her. After all, she was a business major, and part of being a business major was making a good first impression.

So, whenever her classes would end, since the teachers were never there beforehand, Erza would go up to her teachers and formally introduce herself. Today, however, was a tad bit different, to say the least.

The second the bell rang, the teacher stepped into the class. "Good morning, class." He greeted the class, who murmured in response.

Erza hummed, observing the teacher. She hadn't seen him around campus before, and he looked fairly young compared to some of her previous professors. Putting two and two together, Erza decided that this must've been his first year here- maybe even his first year teaching.

"As you already know from previous business classes, a key factor to being a businessman or businesswoman is a good first impression, right class?"

There was a mix of nods and a few verbal responses were heard throughout the classroom.

"Good." The teacher stood up. "Let's retry this. Go back outside, line up, and give me your best introduction. When you come back inside the class, introduce yourself to other classmates, and then figure out where you sit in numerical order by last name."

The class said nothing, silently obeying him and following him out of the door. Deciding to challenge herself, Erza went to the back of the line. Despite being the last student in line, she wanted to be the most memorable one. Since the class was full of seniors and a select few Juniors, all of the greetings were really good. Erza straightened out her skirt and rolled her shoulders back, fixing her posture as the person in front of her finished their introduction.

When Erza stepped up to greet the teacher, however, something inside of her froze. Maybe it was the way his brown eyes pierced into hers, his striking blue hair, or that strange red tattoo on his face- but whatever it was, made Erza forget everything she had ever learned. Erza cleared her throat, snapping out of her trance.

"H-Hello," She stumbled, holding her hand out and regaining confidence. "I'm Erza Scarlet, and it's a pleasure to meet you." She said.

Her teacher returned her gesture and gave her a firm handshake, nodding. "Jellal Fernandes, the pleasure is mine." He pulled his hand away. "Shaky start, but other than that you did a great job." He paused, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Next time, how about you give me a smile?" He asked, a small smile of his own gracing his face.

"Yes, Mr. Fernandes, thank you." Erza nodded quickly before rushing inside the classroom. Erza inhaled deeply, trying to calm her raging thoughts down. _What just happened? _Erza blinked a few times, before pushing her feelings aside and continuing the task her teacher had assigned her.

* * *

"What was that, Elsa?"

"You heard me, Hot breath!"

Erza sighed, seeing her two lifelong friends butting their heads at their usual table. As Erza approached the table, she cleared her throat. "Hello, boys." She said, her voice ringing loud and clear over the boisterous pub.

Her two friends went from a heated staredown to an overly-friendly hug faster then one could blink an eye. "Hey Erza!" They greeted, theirs voices an octave higher than normal.

"I see you two are playing nice," She mused.

"Y-yeah!" Her pink haired friend gulped, looking at the raven-haired boy. "Isn't that right Gray?" He asked.

"Absolutely right you are, Natsu!" Gray agreed.

Erza smiled, taking her seat. "That's good."

Right before Erza could continue, the waitress came up to their table. "Hey guys!" She smiled at the three regulars.

"Hey, Mirajane," Gray greeted, stretching his arms out.

"Do you guys want the usual?" Mirajane asked the group.

"Yes, please." Erza nodded.

"Make sure to add extra extra extra buffalo sauce!" Natsu chimed in, a grin on his face.

"Of course!" Mirajane nodded, heading off into the kitchen.

"So, how has your first day back been so far?" Erza asked the boys, leaning back slightly in her chair.

"It's been great!" Natsu cheered, a giant grin exploding onto his features. "Unfortunately, I have all my boring classes in the morning." He sighed, his shoulders drooping.

"Aww," Erza smiled apologetically at her friend. "Surely they weren't that bad, right?" She asked.

As Natsu thought for a moment, Mirajane had placed three drinks onto the table. A water with tons of ice for Gray, a boiling hot apple cider for Natsu, and an iced tea for Erza. The three thanked Mira, before returning to their conversation.

"Well," Natsu started, scratching his head and taking a sip of his cider, not giving a second thought to the boiling temperature. "I guess Literature was okay," He shrugged.

"You, liking Literature?" Erza asked, raising an eyebrow at Natsu. She let out a little laugh, the surprised expression on her face easing into a smile. "Well, I guess there's a first for everything."

Gray snorted, taking a swig of his 90% ice and 10% water. "Yeah, that's because he was staring at some blonde girl who had accidentally entered the wrong classroom." He explained to Erza.

Erza hummed, sipping the tea that had been served to her. "Really?" She asked in between sips.

"Was not!" Natsu protested.

"Was too!" Gray retorted.

"Boys." Erza loudly placed her hand on the table. Natsu and Gray jumped into a hug. She smiled at the two. "That's better." Erza turned her gaze to the pinkette in front of her. "Is what Gray said true, Natsu?" She asked.

"No way!" Natsu shook his head.

Erza thought for a moment, before nodding her head. Gray's eyes shot out of his head. "You don't believe me?" He asked, exasperated.

"No." Erza answered straight forward. "After all, when has Natsu ever looked at a girl in a romantic way?" She asked.

Gray's frowned, rubbing his temple with his forefinger. "You do have a point…" He mumbled, accepting his defeat.

"Food's ready!" Mirajane's voice caused everyone to look in the direction. Surely enough, there was Mirajane, holding three plates of food. She placed down a plate of buffalo wings in front of Natsu, with a whole bottle of the buffalo sauce on the plate. She put down a caramade frank in front of Gray, and a slice of strawberry cake for Erza. "Enjoy your food, guys!" Mira smiled, leaving the table to return to her work duties.

Without another word spoken, the three dug into their food- Natsu digging in after emptying the whole bottle of buffalo sauce onto his wings. As the three were chowing down on the heavenly food, Gray spoke up. "So, Erza, how has your day been so far?" He asked.

Erza nearly choked on her strawberry cake at Gray's question, remembering her first period jitters. She swallowed it down, sipping some of her tea to help wash it down. Erza cleared her throat, recollecting herself. "My day has been good." Erza told Gray.

Gray raised an eyebrow, taking a piece of ice from his drink and eating it- which earned a look from Natsu that was a mix of disgust and disappointment. "Really?" Gray asked. "Just good?"

"Yes." Erza nodded. "Why do you ask?" She added, not missing a beat.

"You almost just choked on your cake when I asked you that question," Gray pointed out. "Surely, your day was more than just good."

"Oooh!" Natsu, in between bites, chimed in. "Erza has a boyfriend~" He cooed.

"Shut it!" Erza barked, giving Natsu a death glare, who was too busy indulging himself in his wings to notice. "And no, I do not have a boyfriend."

"Yet," Gray mumbled, taking a bite of his caramade frank. Erza gave Gray the death glare, who started to sweat nervously. "Um, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Gray said, quickly getting up and hurrying away.

Natsu froze, feeling the tense air around him. He looked up, seeing Erza's death glare on him. "I should run too, right?" Natsu asked, wiping his mouth. Erza nodded, and that was all it took before Natsu took off running alongside Gray, Erza sharp on their tails. The people at the pub stopped what they were doing to look at the fight.

"I need to borrow this," Erza said, taking someone's silverware. With a battle cry, she flicked forward a knife, which breezed past her prey and made them scream in fear.

The people at the pub loved it. They held out their silverware for Erza to take, chanting "Fairy Tail!" As they watched the fight. Erza took the knifes, forks, and spoons as she ran, skillfully flicking all of them towards Natsu and Gray. Natsu and Gray cried out, somehow managing to dodge the silverware being flung at them. As Erza was running, someone had tapped her shoulder.

"I don't know if you noticed," They told her. "But you're going around in a circle."

Erza nodded, starting to go the other way. Surely enough, Natsu and Gray weren't paying attention, and when Erza abruptly cut off their pursuit, the two boys let out loud screams. Before they could run away, Erza grabbed both of the boys by their shirt collars, smashing their heads together.

Natsu and Gray both stumbled back from the impact, dazed. Natsu recovered first, and charged for Erza, letting out a battle cry as he drew his fist back. Right when Natsu swung his first forward, Erza grabbed his wrist, stopping Natsu in his tracks. She pulled him forward, kneeing him and the chest and sending him flying back.

While Erza was caught off-guard, Gray slipped some ice cubes down Erza's shirt, causing her to squeal and squirm in place. Gray low-sweep kicked Erza, knocking her to the ground. He took off his jacket, rolling his shoulder and then jumping into an Elbow drop. At the last second, Erza had rolled out of the way, causing Gray to cry out in pain when his elbow slammed into the wooden floor.

Dusting herself off, Erza got up and looked at the two boys. Natsu and Gray were both heading towards her from opposite directions, fists raised. Erza closed her eyes, listening as their battle cries sounded louder and louder as they had come closer to her. With a jolt, Erza opened her eyes, jumping up into the air and executing a perfect split kick, nailing both of the boys in the face with her feet.

Erza raised up her fist, her thumb out and her pointer finger pointing to the sky in victory. The people at the pub lost it, roaring with applause and standing up. They held up their drinks, shouting "Titania!" in unison. Some people had even thrown money at her.

Erza lowered her hand, getting a look at her watch while she did so. She sighed, grabbing Natsu and Gray's shirt collars and dragging them out of the pub. "Come on boys," She said, placing 550 Jewel on the table. "It's time to head back to the campus." Erza gave one last wave to the people at the pub, before pulling her unconscious friends with her- which definitely earned her some weird looks from people passing by.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I got no reviews for the second chapter :( boohoo! Oh well, this chapter was kind of fun to write- it was surprising too. I thought it was gonna be shorter than the rest but it's actually longer than the rest by a good 1000 words! Woah! I hope you enjoy this chapter, please review!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gajeel_

"One, two, one two three four!" The sound of an electric guitar, a drum set, a synth pad, and two singers filled the small storage space. This was where the band "Black Steel Gajeel and the Element Four" played.

From song covers, to original songs, the group of five did it all. In the group was Gajeel, bass guitarist and singer, Juvia, pianist and singer, Totomaru, a synth pad user, Aria, electric guitarist, and Sol, percussionist. Right now, the band was practicing a cover of Partners in Crime by Set it Off featuring Ash Costello.

The alternative rock band was fairly popular when it came to doing covers. When it came to their own songs, however, not so much. Nonetheless, the band had got a gig at some rich kid's birthday party, and they needed to practice.

Once the song ended, there was the sound of a single person clapping at a moderate rate. "Good job, kids," A man spoke up. This man was Jose, their manager. "You've trained long and hard tonight," He told them. "Go home, you've got a big day tomorrow." With that, Jose left.

The band thanked Jose and started packing up their belongings. "Hey, Totomaru," Aria spoke up, his voice tearing up.

"What's up Aria?" He asked, paying attention to his comrade.

"I'm so nervous!" Aria wailed. "How am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

"Aria, you do this all the time," Totomaru sighed. "And you always go to sleep just fine, right?" He asked, giving Aria a reassuring smile.

"No, no, no," Sol chimed in, patting Aria's back. "Don't cry Aria! Whenever I can't sleep, I listen to Asmr, yes yes!"

"Asmr?" Juvia asked, tilting her head. "What is that?"

"Nice, tingly noises to help you focus and fall asleep, yes yes!" Sol answered.

Gajeel scoffed. "I always hear people say that shit doesn't work,"

"No, no, no!" Sol shook his head. "You can't knock it till you try it!"

"How about this?" Totomaru spoke up. "We all go home, and listen to some Asmr. Okay?" He suggested, looking at his teammates.

"O-okay," Aria sobbed.

"Yes yes!" Sol beamed.

"Sounds like a plan," Juvia smiled.

Gajeel scoffed, but nodded nonetheless. "Don't expect me to like it," He mumbled.

"Great!" Totomaru grinned. "Text in the group chat how it goes!" He waved bye to his friends, jumping over a few boxes in the storage room and heading out. Sol, alongside a still teary Aria, followed, but walking through the opening instead of jumping over the boxes.

Gajeel and Juvia left the storage room last, making sure to lock it after they left, walking home together. As they walked home together, they happened to pass by the campus. Juvia stopped, which caused Gajeel to stop as well. "What's up?" He asked.

"I wanted to go to the campus for a bit," Juvia told her brother.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "Okay, let's go."

Juvia shook her head. "No, I wanted to go by myself," She mumbled.

Gajeel frowned. "Why?" He asked.

Juvia sighed, brushing her hair back. "Just because," She answered.

Gajeel thought for a moment, but nodded. "Alright, then." He ruffled his little sister's hair. "Don't be back too late." He told her, before they headed off in separate directions. As Gajeel walked home, he felt a light rain start to fall on him. "That must have been why she wanted to go to campus, huh?" He asked himself, looking up at the cloudy skies.

It was a lonely walk home, but at least it wasn't a long one. Once he had arrived, Gajeel unlocked the door with his key, stepping into the apartment. "Hey, mom." Gajeel greeted, closing and locking the door behind him.

On the sofa was Belno, Gajeel and Juvia's original foster-turned adoptive mom. Gajeel and Juvia knew from a young age they were adopted, and to all the other people who laughed at them, they just responded with "at least I was wanted," or something along the lines of that.

Belno looked up from what she was doing. On her lap was the family cat, Pantherlily. Pantherlily let out a whine when Belno had stopped petting him. "Where's your sister?" Belno asked.

"I'm doing good mom, thanks." Gajeel rolled his eyes. He plopped down on the couch next to her, Pantherlily crawling over to rest on Gajeel's lap, purring when Gajeel scratched his chin. "She went to the campus."

"Why didn't you go with her?" Belno asked, turning down the TV so she could hear her son.

Gajeel shrugged. "She didn't want me to come with." He answered, a slight frown on your face.

Belno frowned, gently rubbing Gajeel's back. "I can tell you're worried about her."

"Well no shit,"

"I am too." Belno sighed. "Even with the meds, depression is no easy thing to live with. Juvia is a strong young lady, you have to have faith in her. I do, and I know you do too, so stop worrying about her."

Gajeel looked at Belno, letting a sigh out of his mouth and his shoulders drop. "You're right- but-"

"But nothing, Gajeel," Belno cut him off. "Juvia can take care of herself. Go do your homework or something and stop worrying about your baby sister."

Gajeel groaned, grabbing pantherlily and heading off to his room. "Even though mom is right, I just have a bad feeling about today," He told the cat, who simply jumped onto his desk and walked across his keyboard, typing up random letters onto the search engine.

Gajeel sat down at his desk, backspacing the letters pantherlily typed. He paused for a moment, remembering what the band had promised to do. Putting on his headphones, Gajeel opened up youtube, searching up ASMR into the engine and pressing enter.

A ton of videos popped up, and it all looked kind of strange to Gajeel. This was a side of youtube he had never seen, let alone even heard of, until today. He didn't quite know what to expect. Gajeel clicked a random video, bracing himself for the worse.

**IF YOU OR A L-**

Gajeel ripped off his headphones and blindly three them, letting out a yelp at the incredibly loud jumpscare of an ad. The headphones had hit Pantherlily, who was laying on his desk. Pantherlily hissed, throwing off the headphones, his mug filled with writing utensils, and a photo frame off of the desk in the midst of his thrashing about.

"Shit," Gajeel cussed, making sure his cat was okay. "Sorry, Pantherlily." He apologized. Pantherlily glared at him before jumping off of his desk and slipping through the door. Gajeel picked up his stuff and put it back on his desk, making sure everything was back to the way it was before going back to the video.

Gajeel lowered his volume from 100 (he couldn't recall why it was so high) and restarted the video back to the beginning, putting his headphones on and readying himself for what he was about to experience.

"Hello guys," The girl whispered into a mic, lightly stroking it. Gajeel arched his back, feeling a weird tingly sensation down his spine. One thought crossed Gajeel's mind as the girl was talking into the mic. _He did not like this. _"Today, I'm gonna be doing a QnA while brushing the mic," She whispered, repeating the word 'QnA' to make it sound like an echo.

Gajeel was at slight discomfort- this definitely wasn't what he was expecting, yet he couldn't look away. "The first question is, who are your favorite Asmrtists?" The girl grabbed one of the makeup brushes she had on her desk and started brushing the mic, which made Gajeel squirm and scrunch up his nose. "My favorites are Latte Asmr, Ppomo Asmr, and Library Asmr. Latte has great roleplays, Ppomo has unique triggers, and Library always calms me down when she reads a book. She has a good eye for books, too." She whispered.

Gajeel paused the video, having enough of that youtuber for the day. "Maybe I'll like one of these other… Asmrtists? Yeah, something along the lines of that." Gajeel typed in Library Asmr and hit search. A bunch of videos popped up, but Gajeel had a feeling they weren't what he was looking for. The videos were of Library ASMR roleplays- and Gajeel was looking for an _artist _named Library ASMR. Gajeel filtered his searches to Artists and pressed search. He clicked the first name that popped up, a channel with 100,000 subscribers. The intro video was a few seconds long, but it was just a list of what was on the channel. Gajeel clicked the videos tab, and his jaw dropped in shock.

"No way," Gajeel mumbled. He opened his desk drawer, fumbling around before pulling out a case and opening it. Reading glasses. Despite having exceptional sight, it was hard for Gajeel to look at electronic screens- as if his eyes didn't want to cooperate with him. Surely enough, his eyes weren't lying to him. "No way," He repeated. This had to be some joke.

To make sure Gajeel wasn't going crazy, he clicked one of the videos. "Hello, bookworms," The youtuber greeted. "Welcome back to the reading of _Pitstop_," She held the book up for the viewers to see, stroking the book gently. "written by Santiago Adan. In this video, we'll be reading chapter 3. The links to the previous chapters are in the description- I hope you enjoy."

Gajeel paused the video, a part of him in shock, and a part of him in devilish joy. Gajeel pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening his contacts and calling the number he selected. It rang twice, when it finally picked up.

"Hey Gajeel," Levy greeted. "I'm kinda busy at the moment, what do you need?" She asked.

"Hey shrimp, Gihi." Gajeel whispered, letting out a small giggle. "I gotta ask you something." He told her.

"What do you need?" Levy asked.

"Guess." Gajeel whispered.

"What?" Levy asked, confusion evident in her voice.

"Guess what I'm gonna ask."

"I don't know, what is it Gajeel?" Levy asked him, slightly irritated.

"Just guess!" He whispered, holding back a roar of laughter.

"Well, can I ask why you're whispering?" Levy asked.

"No. Unless you join me. Gihi." Gajeel whispered.

"Fine," Levy whispered. "Now seriously, Gajeel, I'd love to help you out but I don't have time for this nonsense."

Gajeel fist pumped in victory, grinning like a madman. His suspicions were right. "Okay, you ready for the question?" He asked, his voice still a whisper.

"Yes!" Levy whisper-yelled.

"Do you know who Library Asmr is?" He asked.

Silence. A silence so thick that Gajeel could slice through it. It took everything in his power not to burst out laughing as he imagined her face at the moment. His excitement was cut short however, when he had heard the sound of the call ending. Gajeel hummed in thought, calling her back again. It rang a few times before going to voicemail. He called one more time for good measure, but this time it went straight to voicemail.

Gajeel sighed, closing his computer and taking off his headphones, standing up. Good thing he didn't take off his shoes, he thought to himself, grabbing a duffle bag and heading out of his room. Gajeel whistled, and Lily came up to Gajeel, nuzzling his leg and purring. "You're coming with me, lil guy." Gajeel told Lily, picking up Pantherlily and putting him in his duffle bag. "I'm heading out!" He called out to Belno. He heard something along the lines of "kids these days" before he left the apartment.

Gajeel pulled the hoodie he was wearing over his head, the rain still dripping down as he walked towards his destination. When Gajeel arrived, he looked up at the building. It was too dark to see if anyone was up there, so Gajeel assumed that Juvia had gone home. Nonetheless, Gajeel entered the dorm building. He was about to go to the elevator, when a sudden urge to throw up hit him. Gajeel then opted for the stairs.

Once on the floor he was looking for, Gajeel walked down the hallways, stopping at a door and then knocking. He heard a muffled "Coming!" from the other side. The door clicked, and opened to reveal that blonde chick Levy introduced to him.

"Hey, bunny girl, is Levy in there?" He asked.

"B-bunny girl?" Lucy asked, blinking in confusion.

"Is Levy in there?" He repeated.

Lucy's eyes lit up. "Yeah!" She answered. "Down the hall on the right door." She told him, stepping aside so he could come in.

"Thanks," Gajeel entered the dorm, heading straight for Levy's door and then knocking on it.

"Busy!" He heard her shout through the door.

"No you're not," Gajeel said. "Can I come in?"

"NO!" He heard her yell.

Gajeel pulled the door handle, which was unlocked, and opened the door. "You should've locked the door then, shrimp" He said, stepping inside. Levy was at her desk, her back faced to him. "Hey, shrimp." Gajeel said, his voice softer. He put down his bag and walked up to her, ducking since her desk was part of a bunk-bed combo which he was too tall for, and put a hand on her shoulder.

"W-what now?" She asked him, not looking even in his direction let alone at him.

"Look at me." Gajeel told her. Silence. "Please?" He added.

Levy slowly turned to look up at him. There were tears falling down her face, a sad look in her eyes.

Gajeel's eyes widened, a sad feeling sinking into his gut. "Levy, what's wrong?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Do you really want to know?" She asked him, turning her body to face him.

"Of course I do," Gajeel mumbled, avoiding her eye contact. "I want you to stop crying."

The corner of Levy's lips twitched up into a smile, but the remorse was still evident in her eyes. "Okay," She sighed. "A few years back, I told my old friends that I wanted to make an Asmr channel." She told Gajeel. "Two of my friends supported me, but the others all harassed me." Her voice trailed off. "They told me that it was stupid, and that I'd never get anywhere. Not only did they go out of their way to make fun of me, they hurt my two friends too, Jet and Droy. It felt like we were being publicly hung by them- it was so humiliating. It got so bad that even Jet and Droy stopped talking to me."

"You mean those idiots who'd follow your every move?" Gajeel asked.

"Well for a long time, those _idiots _were my only friends. And you probably think it's dumb, to be crying over something like this," Levy let out a laugh at the thought. "But- it hurt, to think that something as simple as a youtube channel would break apart such a bond." Levy started tearing up again, avoiding eye contact with Gajeel.

"Hey, shrimp, don't cry," Gajeel frowned, gently rubbing her shoulder.

Levy looked up at Gajeel, a few tears falling down her face. "Y-you won't leave me, will you?" She asked, her voice cracking.

Gajeel gently cupped her cheek, wiping a few tears off of her face. "Why would I?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

A smile broke out onto Levy's face, more tears streaming out of her eyes. She wrapped her arms around Gajeel, burying her face into his chest. "Thank you…" Her voice was muffled against his hoodie.

Gajeel felt heat rush to his face as he stared at the girl crying into his chest. Gajeel slowly wrapped his arms around Levy, lightly stroking her hair. "There, there, now." He whispered. Gajeel wasn't good at comforting people, but he knew someone who was. Gajeel pulled away from Levy. "Close your eyes and hold out your hands," He told Levy, who obeyed. Gajeel went to his bag and pulled out Lily, placing him in Levy's arms. "Open."

Levy opened her eyes, a gasp escaping her lips and a smile gracing her features. "Is this Lily?" She asked, holding the cat to her chest and stroking his head, which elicited a purr.

Gajeel nodded. "I figured you never really met Lily." He told her. "And I think he's much better at comforting people than I am." He admitted.

"You're right on that." Levy joked. She laughed when she saw Gajeel's annoyed expression.

"At least I tried!" Gajeel exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Gajeel, I'm just messing with you." Levy told him. "You helped a lot, and I'm really grateful. Thank you." She smiled up at him.

Gajeel scoffed, looking at Levy from the corner of his eyes. "It's nothing, really." Gajeel mumbled. His face heated up a little when he heard Levy giggle. Looking at Levy, he smiled. If there was one thing Gajeel was certain of, it was that he enjoyed seeing Levy happy.

* * *

In the morning of the next day, Gajeel woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing. He grabbed his phone off of his nightstand, glaring at the screen brightness to read what notification he had received. It was Totomaru from the Phantom Lord group chat, asking about the Asmr and if everyone liked it. Gajeel opened the message and responded with a simple message. "It was very interesting."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I still got no reviews ;( Boohoo! Though, I do see people following and favoriting my story, so thank you for that! Please read and review! It would mean a lot to me! I don't have much to say in this author's note really, but _please read_ what I have to say next. (And I apologize for the caps!)**

**TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION AND MENTIONS/THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE IN THIS CHAPTER.**** IF CONTENT LIKE THIS BOTHERS YOU, PLEASE DO NOT READ AND WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER TO COME OUT (I'll explain this story's events in the next chapter). IF YOU ARE FEELING DEPRESSED AND/OR SUICIDAL PLEASE GO TO PROFESSIONAL HELP FOR GUIDANCE, SUCH AS THE SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE. If you need the number and do not want to look it up, please feel free to PM me and I will give it to you, along with information about other services if requested.**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Juvia_

_Drip drip drop._

It was recess time, and as the kids were all playing, a raindrop fell. Then another, and then another, creating a drizzle on the field. The kids groaned, heading back inside, when one kid shouted "Look at Juvia!"

The kids turned their head to look at Juvia, a young girl bouncing around in puddles, a smile on her face as she played by herself. Three kids approached her, confused. "Why are you playing by yourself?" They asked her.

"Juvia isn't playing by herself." She told them. "She is playing with the rain."

The kids laughed at her. "Seriously? Playing _with _the rain? What kind of person does that?" One kid mocked.

Juvia looked down. "J-Juvia does…" She mumbled, shuffling her feet.

"And what's up with how you speak?" Another kid asked. "You speak like you're from a story book."

"J-Juvia is-"

"Juvia this Juvia that," All three of them mocked. "Juvia is a weirdo! A weirdo who's only friend is the rain!" They laughed. "Rain can't even speak!" One kid objected.

"Hey, Juvia, play with this!" The kid exclaimed, kicking water into her face.

Juvia screeched, her hands flying to her face to wipe off the water. All three of the kids splashed water onto her face, too fast for her tiny hands to keep up with. Juvia curled up into a ball, sobbing into her hands as the boys splashed her. _It will go away, _Juvia told herself.

_Drip drip drop._

There wasn't a funeral, or anything special on this desolate date. But here she was, a few randomly picked flowers in her hands. Tears streamed down her face and onto the freshly picked flowers as she approached the tombstone.

"It-it hasn't even been a week, and I a-already miss you." Juvia cried, placing the flowers on the ground in front of the tombstone.

It was at that moment, the rain started to fall. Juvia looked up, her tears falling in sync with the rain drops. "Do you miss me too?" She asked, looking up at the sky, a vast sadness in her cerulean eyes. "If you miss me then.." She paused, choking on a sob that caught in her throat. "Then why'd you h-have to leave me?"

From a distance, Belno and Gajeel watched. "Can I talk to her?" Gajeel asked, holding Belno's hand.

Belno shook her hand. "You can talk in the car. Let her be alone right now." She told Gajeel.

Gajeel frowned, watching his foster sister. He was only 9, and she was only 8, but he knew that she knew as well what had happened. Gajeel watched as Juvia fell to her knees, her sobs filled with grief and despair.

_Drip drip drop_

"Hello, Bora!" Juvia greeted, a smile on her face as she saw her boyfriend walk towards her.

"Hey Juvia," Bora greeted, smiling at her.

"How was your day?" Juvia asked, starting her walk home with Bora.

"Good, I guess," Bora shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "How was yours?" He asked his girlfriend.

"My day was okay," Juvia smiled. "It's much better now that you're here!" She cheered.

"Oh, okay." Bora said, his voice trailing off.

Juvia looked at Bora, tilting her head slightly. "Is everything okay, Bora?" She asked.

"Huh?" Bora asked, before her question registered in his head "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He answered.

"Okay," Juvia nodded, putting her hand on his arm. "You can tell me anything, Bora. You know that." She added.

There was silence between the two for a moment as they walked down the sidewalk- stopping at a red light. "Actually," Bora spoke, letting out a sigh. "There's something I need to tell you," He admitted.

"What is it?" Juvia asked, crossing the crosswalk with Bora as the light turned green.

"Juvia.." Bora started. He frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. "I don't know how to say this."

"It's okay!" Juvia reassured him. How about you think about it and when we get to my house you tell me?" She asked.

Bora nodded. "Alright."

The walk home was silent and tense. As they were walking, it started to rain slightly. When they arrived to her apartment complex, she looked expectantly at Bora. "Have you thought about it?" She asked him, a wide smile on her face.

Bora sighed. "Juvia, this isn't going to work." He told her.

"Well think of another way, Juvia answered.

"No," Bora shook her head. "_This,_" He said, gesticulating to him and Juvia. "Isn't going to work."

Juvia's eyes widened and her eyebrows raised as she registered what he had said. "Oh." She frowned. "Why?" She asked him.

"I just- my friends think you're weird and now they won't talk to me." Bora told her.

Juvia was silent, the rain pouring harder. She looked down at the puddle forming at her feet, avoiding eye contact with Bora. "Okay." Juvia mumbled.

"Well, bye." Bora said, leaving Juvia alone in the rain.

Juvia stared down at the water droplets falling onto the floor. Hearing footsteps approach her, she looked up. There, stood Gajeel, looking at her with a look that told Juvia he had heard everything. Gajeel opened his arms, and Juvia broke down into tears, running into her brother's arms for comfort.

The sound of the main door being opened was heard, and Juvia felt another pair of arms around her. She didn't have to look to know it was Belno. Gajeel must have sent her a message. Together, the three hugged in the pouring rain, Belno and Gajeel giving Juvia the comfort and solace that she needed.

_Drip drip drop._

"The results have come in," Doctor Porlyusica told the small family waiting patiently for the results. "Do you want the others to hear the results or do you want to tell them yourself?" She asked.

"Just say it, please." Juvia told Porlyusica. _The answer's pretty obvious anyways. _She thought to herself.

Doctor Porlyusica nodded. "You have moderate depression which is starting to progress into severe depression." She told the three.

Juvia felt her world slow down. She didn't know how to feel about this newfound information, if she could even call it that. Juvia didn't know how to feel about anything anymore. The world around her kept turning as she was frozen solid. She saw Belno and Porlyusica talking about the medicine, and She saw Gajeel right next to her, talking about something that she wasn't really paying attention to, just nodding every now and then.

"You wanna sit in the front?" Belno asked her daughter as they headed out to the parking lot.

"Yeah, I don't mind." Gajeel told her. It was a big thing for Gajeel to give up his front seat. Gajeel suffers from severe motion sickness, and the air vents in the front were more stronger, which made him feel much better.

"No," Juvia shook her head. "I'm fine," She told them.

Gajeel and Belno looked at each other, Gajeel giving a little shrug. The three then got into the car and drove off.

As they were driving, a little droplet of water fell onto the window. Juvia, who was already leaning against the side of the car and looking out the window, took notice. Another droplet fell, and then another, and soon enough, a light drizzle fell upon the car. Juvia let out a dry laugh at the irony of the situation, watching as the raindrops cascaded down the car window.

_Drip drip drop._

Juvia opened the door, stepping out onto the roof of the dorm buildings. Not a lot of places that she knew of had roofs you could walk on, and it's not like you could walk into any building just to walk on their roof. Juvia held out her hand, observing the little droplets falling onto her hand.

_The rain, _Juvia looked up at the rain. _It's always been with me. Why? _Juvia walked to the edge of the roof, observing the city below her. She saw people running indoors, rushing to get to somewhere dry. Some people had their umbrellas out, but only Juvia was the one who was truly in the rain.

The rain developed Juvia entirely. Everything that happened, it followed her around- like a little rainy cloud that you could find in cartoons above someone's head. Everyday it would rain. Whether it was the earth's tears, or whether it was Juvia's tears, there was never truly a dry, sunny day.

Juvia knew that it was affecting other people around her too. She's not dumb- she even skipped a year of middle school to prove it. The kids at her school thought she was weird for being so in sync with the rain, her ex thought she was too weird to be seen with, she constantly has her brother and her mother worrying about her. There was never any sunshine in her life.

Maybe that's why she was so pale and devoid of life. She only knew rain. That was all life ever was to her. A dark, dark cloud, with no outlet. Sometimes, the clouds would get lighter, but the sky was never clear. Her clouds were starting to drift into other people's lives, too. Juvia didn't know how to feel about that.

All Juvia knew was she didn't want anyone she loved and cared about to feel the way she did- no sun, no happiness, no true meaning to life. "Maybe…" Juvia mumbled to herself. "Just maybe, it would be better if Juvia were to truly become one with the rain."

She stood in the rain, all alone, her tears falling in sync with the rain. There was no thunder or lightning in sight, just rain that turned from a light drizzle into something much more harsh.

Juvia was tired. She was tired of having to reassure people she was fine, she was tired of lying to people, tired of having everyone stray away from her, tired of having to worry about her loved ones worrying about her- how ironic is that- and, for once in her life, she was tired of the rain.

Juvia didn't like the rain, no.

In a sense, Juvia hated the rain.

But it's not like Juvia had a choice. The rain was always there. Waiting for her every move. Watching as her life slowly crumpled apart, and then assisting with sweeping away the debris as a current- not caring whether or not she wanted to keep the debris in an attempt to fix the disaster that she had bestowed upon herself.

The rain was part of Juvia- and maybe it was time for Juvia to become part of the rain.

"I'm sorry, Bora, for driving your friends away." Juvia mumbled, tears still running hot down her face. "I'm sorry, Gajeel, for changing from your sister to just another burden. I'm sorry, Mom, for making your bills higher due to my meds. I think you're all better off without me." She told them, as if they could hear her.

"Bora's already doing much better since he broke up with me. Gajeel and Mom, would you two be the same?" She asked, laughing dryly. "Would you be the same as everyone else in the world? Everyone else who's never felt rain? Would you react the same? Or would it be different?"

Juvia found her apartment complex from here and stared at it. Her home was no longer a home to her, but a place that was another failed attempt to keep her safe from the rain. A sob escaped her mouth as she looked down at the grass below her. Her final destination.

"I'm sorry," She apologized, imagining Gajeel and Belno's faces when they found out what she had done. "I hope you find that note I left for you in my room. Goodbye, Gajeel. Goodbye, Belno." She mumbled, closing her eyes. "If you ever want to see me again, just hold your hand out. And like a droplet of rain, there I'll be, at the palm of your hand."

Juvia took a deep breath, leaning forward, ready to embrace her fate. As she felt the world around her start to change, it froze. A pair of arms wrapped around her torso, and Juvia opened her eyes, confused. "I won't let you fall," An unfamiliar voice told her, and Juvia's eyes widened.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: I got so many reviews on the last chapter! A big big _big _thank you to the following three people: kroetzski100 for reviewing again, Juviafullbuster1 for giving me such a nice review, and Guest for reviewing. **

**Reply to Guest: Thank you for the review! How cruel of me to do that to poor Gray :( Don't worry though, nothing bad happens :D**

**This chapter is a whopping 3.7k words, and when I started it off, I thought it would be shorter than the others. Oops. I hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to read and review!**

**And to anyone who might be confused, this chapter and the last chapter were on the first day of the third chapter, not the next morning that was mentioned at the very end of the third chapter! (I hope this doesn't make it more confusing, oops!)**

_**WARNING: SCENES OF A SUICIDE ATTEMPT ARE IN THIS CHAPTER, NO ACTUAL SUICIDE THOUGH! For those of you who skipped the last chapter from a trigger warning, the last chapter was basically a trip down Juvia's memory lane- some of the major events in her life that led up to her being diagnosed with depression, and then her suicide attempt at the very end.**_

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gray_

A whistle was heard throughout the ice rink, signaling the end of the practice game. "Good game, kids!" The hockey coach, Ur shouted to the players. "We've been playing for a while now, I think it's time you can hit the showers and then head home." She told them. "Except Lyon and Gray," She called out. The two boys who were walking towards the locker rooms with the others stopped, groaning and walking towards the coach.

"Good job, boys!" Ur exclaimed, hugging Gray and Lyon tightly. Ur was not only their hockey coach, but she was also their mom. They had a big family- Silver and Ur were their parents, Ultear was their daughter that was more than twice as older as Gray and Lyon. Ultear had a kid, Meredy, who was only a few years younger than Lyon and Gray were- despite her being their niece, and them being her uncles.

"Mom-" Gray started.

"You're suffocating us-" Lyon continued.

Ur pulled away, smiling at her two sons. "I know our game against Oak Town will be a breeze!" She exclaimed confidently. "Lyon, you can go," She smiled at Lyon who cheered and headed back to the locker rooms. "I need to talk to you though, Gray," She told her other son.

"What?" Gray asked.

Ur raised an eyebrow. "Try again." She told him.

"Yes?" He asked.

Ur smiled. "That a boy." She ruffled his hair. "Are you sure you'll be able to play?" She asked him. "I know you hurt your elbow, how is it doing?"

"It's fine," Gray reassured her, lifting up his elbow. "There's still a bruise, but it only hurts if you touch it." He told her, which was only a partial lie.

"Okay, just making sure." Ur smiled. "How did you hurt your elbow anyway?" She asked him.

"Oh, I uh…" Gray remembered when he had tried to elbow drop Erza at Fairy Tail, but ended up elbow dropping the floor instead. "It's kind of embarrassing, but I fell." He scratched the back of his neck. "I wasn't paying attention, but I caught myself with my elbow." He told her.

Ur raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Mhm. Sure."

"Hey!" Gray exclaimed.

"I'm just messing with you," Ur laughed. "I believe you. You can go back to the locker room, though." She told him.

"Thanks, mom," Gray smiled, heading off into the locker room. Gray headed straight for his locker, opting to take a shower at home. As he opened his locker and changed out of his clothes, he noticed something rather important.

His shirt was missing.

"Hm?" Gray hummed, looking in his locker. He looked in his bag- maybe he had misplaced it. The only thing different he found in his bag was a note. It was a youtube link with a timestamp. Gray typed in the youtube link and then skipped to the timestamp. It was the music video to I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred. The timestamp skipped to a part of the song where the guy started a new verse. "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy~"

Gray locked the screen, putting his phone in his bag and slamming his locker shut. "LYON!" Gray yelled. "WHERE ARE YOU?" He took off, looking for Lyon around the locker room.

"He left," Someone said. "I don't know where he went, though." With this tidbit of information, Gray took off.

Ur's eyes widened, seeing her son run frantically out of the dressing room without a shirt on. "Where do you think you're going, young man?" She asked, her voice stern.

"Have you see Lyon?" He asked.

Ur blinked. "He went that way," She told him, pointing to the exit.

"Thanks, mom! Love you!" Gray called before running towards her directions.

"HEY!" Ur yelled. She sighed, putting a hand on her hip as she watched the door violently swing in Gray's wake. "Boys." She shook her head.

Gray bolted down the halls, looking for his brother. "LYON!" He called out, anger coursing through his veins, fueling his speed. As he was running, someone exited a classroom, and he skidded to a halt, nearly charging into the person. When he saw who it was, he scowled. "Watch it, shitfire."

"Hey!" Natsu exclaimed. "It's spitfire, not shitfire!" He corrected his friend. "And you watch it! I just got out, how was I supposed to know you were bolting down the hall without a shirt?!"

"What are you doing here?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Experiments." Natsu responded.

"Ah, so you're blowing up the joint again?" Gray asked, cracking up.

"No explosions this time, brain freeze." Natsu told him.

"Ah, are you looking for that blonde chick?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow and elbowing Natsu.

"Shut up!" Natsu exclaimed. "Why are you shirtless?" He changed the subject.

Gray's eyes widened. "Lyon stole my shirt! Have you seen him?" He asked.

Natsu shrugged. "If I didn't see you why would I have seen Lyon?" He asked. "Plus, there's only one other way to go." Natsu pointed out.

"Thanks, gotta blast!" With that, Gray took off again, leaving Natsu in the dust. Natsu blinked, watching his friend dash off.

Going from hall to hall, Gray shouted out for his brother, but to no avail. Most of the classrooms were empty, anyway. And the people he encountered either didn't know where Lyon was, or didn't even know who Lyon was.

After god knows how long he had been running, Gray found himself in the dorm building. He was on the last floor, but to no avail did he find Lyon. "Maybe I should be heading back," He mumbled to himself, heading to the elevator. As he walked towards the elevator with his head hung in defeat, an idea popped into his mind. "The roof!" He exclaimed to no one in particular, heading towards the stairs.

The only way to get to the roof was by the stairs. The stairs were normally used for an emergency exit, but they were often used for access to the roof. Gray opened the doors to the stair room, going up the flight of stairs. "If Lyon's not here, I swear I'm gonna..." Gray mumbled to himself, listing all of the tortures he would put his brother through.

Gray opened the doors to the roof, feeling confident that he would find his brother up here. Instead, what greeted Gray was the sight of rain pouring down onto the rooftop. "No fucking way." He mumbled to himself, stepping out into the rain. "Lyon?" He asked, looking around. "You better not be out here!"

Gray did a full 360, trying to look for Lyon. It was hard to see anything with the mist that the rain was creating. Gray stepped further out onto the roof, slowly turning for any signs of movement. After a few seconds, Gray decided to head back. When he turned around to head back, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Assuming it was Lyon, he turned around, his mouth open to yell at his brother, when he froze in his tracks, his eyes widening.

The person in his sights wasn't Lyon, but instead was a gorgeous woman with hair as blue as a summer sky, cascading down her back like a waterfall, glistening in the rain. Gray didn't even know what her face looked like, yet he found himself to be drawn to her, like a moth to a flame.

"I'm sorry," He heard her speak. If it wasn't for her choice of words, Gray would've been mesmerized by her voice. Gray carefully walked closer, trying to get a closer look at the girl and to hear what she was saying more clearly.

"I hope you find that note I left for you in my room. Goodbye, Gajeel. Goodbye, Belno." Gray's eyes widened, his heart dropping into his stomach as he processed her words, his world coming to a stop as his body froze.

"No," Gray mumbled, a hollow feeling spreading through every inch of his body. Gray didn't pay attention to the last words he mumbled, instead, he made a split second decision.

Gray started heading towards her, praying that he wouldn't slip on the way. Gray was being extra cautious, timing his steps with the rain to make sure he wouldn't make any noise that had the potential to scare her and cause any sudden movements from the girl. When Gray saw her start to lean forward, something inside of him snapped, igniting a fire within him. He didn't care if she had heard him or not- what mattered was that he was there for her before it was too late. Gray ran full speed ahead, turning his foot to help him stop and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her frail frame into his.

"I won't let you go," He told her, his arms held tightly around her. There was silence in the air for a moment, before he heard a soft sniffling. Carefully, he brought her further away from the roof, turning her body around with his hands still around her tightly, but gentle- as if any more force would break the girl even more than life already had. Her soft sniffling had turned into sobs, and his heart shattered into pieces as her body had crumpled in his arms. He slowly lowered both of them to the ground, the crying girl now in his lap, sobbing onto his bare chest.

He sat there, rubbing her back softly and resting his chin atop her soft curls, shielding her from the downpour of the rains from the heavens above.

"Let's get you dried up, okay?" Gray asked, his voice at the bare minimum needed for the damsel to hear him amidst the rain. He felt her nod against her chest and he gently placed her off of his lap, getting up and holding his hand out to her.

The girl took his hand, rising shakily from the ground. Giving her hand an affirmative squeeze, Gray lead her to the door, taking her inside to the stairwell. Now that the rain was gone, the silence between the two was more tense and awkward.

"Why did you save me?" The girl spoke up.

Gray turned his head to the girl, his eyes widening slightly as he finally got to take in her facial features. Her skin was really pale, but her eyes were a shade of blue as deep as an ocean, which as a beautiful contrast to her skin. Her pools of Sapphire were bloodshot from her tears and were filled with a mix of emotions that Gray couldn't decipher.

The girl took his silence as a cue to continue. "I don't know what you were doing on the roof, but how different would it have been if you weren't?" She asked, looking him firmly in the eyes. "I don't even know you, and you probably don't know me, so why did you save me?" She asked.

"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had just let you go," Gray told her, holding open the door that led to the hall. "I don't know how to explain it," He admitted. "But when I saw you, it felt as if it was the obvious choice."

"But now you're helping me, a total stranger-"

"Gray."

The girl raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Gray?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "Gray Fullbuster, nice to meet you."

The girl blinked, a light pink blush dusting her cheeks as she averted her eyes from his gaze. "I'm Juvia Lockser." She told him. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Do you have a room here?" He asked.

Juvia shook her head. "No," She told him. "But I have friends here who do. I don't think they'd mind if we borrowed their towels." Juvia bit her lip, wanting to ask him another question but not sure how to ask.

Seeing her puzzled expression, Gray gently slinked his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him. "You can tell me anything, you know," He told her, his voice soft. "And if you need something, all you have to do is ask. I'll be here for you, okay Juvia?"

The blush on Juvia's face deepened from a sakura pink to a rose pink. "Why…" She paused for a moment. "Can I ask why you're shirtless?"

Gray looked down at his torso, his eyes wide. "My brother stole my shirt, and I couldn't find him, so I was looking all over the school. That's how I ended up on the roof." He told her. They reached the elevator and went inside. "What floor?" He asked.

"Not sure," Juvia answered. "But I know the room number. I think it should be floor 3." She watched as Gray pressed the button, watching as the elevator door closed. "Hey, Gray?" She asked.

"Yes?" He asked, turning his gaze to rest upon her cobalt eyes.

"Thank you." She told him. "You saved my life, I'm really grateful."

"No need to thank me for that, Juvia." Gray said. Silence. Gray turned to Juvia to see that she had started to tear up again. "Juvia," He frowned, not wanting to see this beautiful girl in tears.

"I-i'm sorry, I-i just," She stuttered, holding back another sob as tears started to fall out of her eyes.

Gray gently cupped her cheek, wiping away her tears with her thumb. "You know," He started, gazing tenderly into her eyes. "It's okay if you want to cry. Considering the situation we were in a few minutes ago, I'd probably be crying too."

Juvia simply wrapped her arms around him, hugging him once again as a few whimpers escaped from her mouth.

"There there," Gray hummed, gingerly weaving his fingers through her silky waves. The elevator dinged, and Gray reluctantly pulled away from Juvia. He intertwined his fingers with hers, walking out into the hallway alongside Juvia in a comfortable silence.

After a few minutes of walking, Juvia stopped. "This should be it," She told Gray. "Room 223-A." With her free hand, Juvia knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a short, blue-haired girl with an orange headband on her hair and a big smile on her face. "Hey, Juvia!" Levy greeted her friend. "Hey-" She froze mid-sentence, her eyebrows raised and her eyes wide. "Um," Levy saw a lot of things that not only confused her, but concerned her as well.

For starters, Juvia's eyes were bloodshot, and there was a mix of dried tear stains and fresh tear tracks on her face. Juvia was also holding hands with a shirtless boy, of which Levy had never seen before. They were both dripping wet too. "Hey," replied. "Could my friend and I borrow some towels?" She asked, an awkward grin on her face.

"Um, sure, I guess," Levy shrugged. She couldn't figure out why Juvia's friend was shirtless, but as for why both of them were soaking wet, she just assumed that they had been caught up in the rain. "Come in," Levy moved aside to let them in.

Gray and Juvia entered the room. Juvia froze, pulling her hand away from Gray when she saw who was on the couch. "Gajeel?" She asked.

Gajeel looked up from the movie that was playing, his eyes widening and his eyebrows raising when he saw his sister. "Juvia?" He asked.

"What are you doing here?" The siblings chorused in unison.

Levy looked towards Gray. "They're siblings." She told them.

"Really?" He asked.

Levy nodded. "Yeah. Come with me, I'll get you the towels."

Gray followed. Levy went down the hallway, knocking on the door to the left. "Lucy!" She called. "The extra towels are under the sink right?" She asked.

The doorknob shook, and then the door opened. Gray's eyes widened. There, standing right in front of him, was the girl who had accidentally went into his class- the one who Natsu was not-so-secretly pining over. "No, they're in the closet." She told Levy. Her eyes panned over to Gray. "Levy what's up with you and all these boys?!" Lucy asked.

"Lucy! It's not what it looks like!" Levy protested. "This is-" She paused, leaning over to Gray. "What's your name?" She whispered.

Gray laughed a little. "I'm Gray. I came here with Juvia."

"Juvia's here?" Lucy asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "I really missed a lot," She laughed. "Go get the towels, then," She told the two.

As Levy led Gray to the closet, he let out a little laugh. "What's funny?" She asked.

"That girl, Lucy, was it?" Gray asked. He continued when he saw Levy nod. "Earlier today, she went into my classroom by accident."

"What's funny about that?" Levy asked, grabbing the towels. She handed one to Gray.

"My friend was instantly mesmerized by her. He kept looking at the door hoping she'd come back like a lost puppy." Gray let out a small laugh.

Levy's eyes lit up. "No way!" She exclaimed, an evil glint in her eye. "You should give her his number!" She suggested. "He might recognize her voice, but if he doesn't, he'll be face to face with his crush and won't even know it!"

Gray's eyes gleamed. "What a sick prank would that be," He said, holding his hand up for a high five which was happily returned. "I'll do it."

"You go and do that," Levy winked. "I'll give this towel to Juvia." She told him, heading off to the siblings which were in a heated discussion.

Gray walked over to Lucy's room, knocking on the doorframe.

Lucy looked up from her desk, turning her swivel chair around. "Oh, hey, Gray, what's up?" She asked.

"You got a little piece of paper I can borrow?" Gray asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Lucy nodded, reaching into one of her desk drawers. "Is a notecard good?" She asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah, that'll do. You got a pen as well?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "Of course. Can I ask why?" She asked.

"Well, for starters, I need to give Juvia my number." Gray told her, coming up to her desk and taking the notecard. He ripped it into two. "But, also, I don't know if you saw me, but you were the girl who went into my class today by accident."

Lucy gasped. "Oh my god, you saw that?" She asked, her face flushing in embarrassment.

"Yeah," Gray told her. "My friend did too- and that whole class he was staring at the door. I think he was looking for you."

"Wh-what?" Lucy asked.

"I'm giving you his number." Gray said, taking the pen. He took a second to remember Natsu's number before writing it down on the paper. "He needs a girlfriend. It's not that he's ugly or anything like that- he's just incredibly stupid when it comes to woman. Even if you don't want to date him, at least you can prank call him or something." He held out the slip of paper to her.

Lucy smiled. "Can you send me a picture of him?" She asked.

"Sure- I can write my number on the back of the paper I gave you." Gray offered. Lucy handed him the half of the notecard with Natsu's number. He wrote Natsu's name on the side with his number, flipped it over, wrote his own name, and then wrote his number below it, handing the card back to Lucy. He wrote his number on the other card, closing the pen and giving it back to Lucy. "Thanks," He thanked her.

"No problem!" She smiled, waving as Gray exited her room to see Juvia.

Levy and Gajeel were on the couch, watching the movie that was on earlier. Juvia was on the carpet, watching it as well. She looked up at Gray, a small smile. "Gray! Come dry off and join us!"

Gray blinked. He realized he had never dried off yet. He quickly dried himself off with the towel and [by Levy's instruction] put it in the drier, heading back to the living room to sit alongside Juvia on the carpet. As he sat down next to her, he saw Gajeel's piercing glare from the corner of his eye. Gray quickly averted his gaze to avoid eye contact with the burly man, wrapping his arm around Juvia's shoulders and focusing on the movie instead.

Juvia rested her head on Gray's shoulder, a happy look in her eyes. Gray smiled, slipping the paper into her hand, leaning his head against Juvia's as the four of them watched the movie together in a comfortable silence.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I didn't know where to go with this chapter so I thought it was gonna be short, but (i always do this you guys should know by now) this chapter is the biggest one by far with a whopping 4.8k words. It was going to be longer but I had to cut the last few parts out because I wanted it to be uploaded today. Oops! It's really long because I only threw in like one little grain of Nalu, so for this chapter, I dumped the whole bag of sugar into the bowl. You're welcome ;) Big shout out to the review squad, kroetzski100, Guest, and Juviafullbuster1 for leaving me such wonderful reviews! Thank you guys so much!**

**Guest: Thank you for the review- I'm so glad you thought it was a cool chapter. It's a little ironic, though, cause in the notes that I had written out for the squad's classes, Natsu _is _a chemistry major, and you totally guessed that spot on! You get an e-cookie and/or an e-hug, congratulations!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Natsu_

Natsu entered the apartment, grinning wildly. "Hey, Mavis!" He called out to his sister-in-law.

Mavis looked up from the bowl she was shaking in her hands. "Hey, Natsu! You're home a little late," She commented.

"Yeah, I was in the lab." Natsu explained. His eyes lit up at the bowl in Mavis's hands. "Fire Wings!" He exclaimed, running up to the counter.

"Your scarf," Mavis pointed out.

Natsu took off his white scarf and put it on the hat rack so it wouldn't get stained orange-red. Natsu sat down at the counter and watched as Mavis shook the bowl a few times more. Mavis emptied the bowl's contents, a shit ton of inhumanely spicy wings, onto a plate, placing it in front of Natsu. "Drink?" She asked.

"Coke!" Natsu replied, chowing down on the spicy wings.

"Isn't it a little too late for that?" Mavis asked.

"It's never too late for a good meal." Natsu grinned.

"I guess you're right." Mavis laughed, opening the fridge and pulling out a big two-liter bottle of coke, grabbing a cup and pouring some into the cup, sliding it over to Natsu.

"Thank you!" Natsu exclaimed, gobbling up the food as if he hadn't eaten for days. Natsu finished in minutes, chugging his soda in a few seconds flat. He cleaned his dishes, putting them in the sink and then heading to his room, grabbing his scarf and putting it back on along the way.

Natsu opened the door to his room, walked in, and closed it from behind him. To say that Natsu's room was messy was an enormous understatement. Clothes, papers, and random trinkets littered his floor. Atop of his hammock- Yes, Natsu slept on a hammock instead of an actual bed- lay his cat, Happy. "Happy!" He exclaimed.

The Russian Blue cat purred, hopping off of the hammock and hurtling towards his owner. He nuzzled against Natsu's leg, purring violently. Natsu grinned, bending down to pet his cat atop his head. "Hey, happy," He greeted his pet.

A buzzing in Natsu's pocket abruptly stopped him, causing Happy to whine out. "Hold on, Happy," Natsu frowned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. It was a random number, but still local nonetheless. Who could be calling him at this hour?

Natsu stared at the caller ID screen for a second before declining the call, carefully maneuvering his way over the mess upon his floor to his hammock. He took off all of his clothes except his boxers, placing his scarf carefully on one of the posts holding up the hammock and kicking his clothes somewhere across his room.

Natsu collapsed onto his hammock, letting out a tired sigh as he closed his eyes. Happy jumped up onto the hammock, landing swiftly onto his back. Natsu blindly reached down on the floor, feeling around for a few seconds before grabbing his charger and plugging in his phone, letting it drop to the floor. Natsu was about to close his eyes and drift off to sleep, when he heard the sound of Mavis' voice.

"I'm heading out to the pub!" She called out to Natsu. "Do your homework!" Natsu heard the click of the door opening and then the thud of the door closing.

Natsu glared at his backpack, really not wanting to do his homework at the moment. He closed his eyes, about to drift off to sleep, when another distraction made his eyes shoot open. He groaned, reaching down to the floor and grabbing his phone which was vibrating and ringing like mad. The caller ID was the same as the one that had called him before. "Leave me alone," Natsu glared, declining the call.

Natsu threw his phone back onto the floor, pushing Happy off of his back so he could roll over to the side, when his phone started ringing again. Natsu angrily turned around, snatching his phone off the floor and pulling the charger out of it in the process. Not bothering to look at the caller ID he picked up the call, fuming. "Whaddya want?!" He yelled into the mic. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"That is no way to speak to me." Natsu instantly paled at the sound of the voice. He pulled his phone back and felt his soul leave his body when he saw the caller ID. It wasn't the random number that had called him twice earlier, but instead was his older brother.

"S-sorry Zeref!" Natsu apologized, praying that Zeref wouldn't kill him when he got home.

"You're fine. It's probably late where you are, right?" Zeref asked.

"Yeah," Natsu nodded. "Why ya asking?"

"Did Mavis already leave for the pub?" Zeref asked.

"Yeah," Natsu told him.

"So it's just you and Happy?"

"Yeah,"

"Is "Yeah" the only thing you're going to say to me?"

There was a pause for a moment before Natsu replied, a huge grin on his face. "Yeah," He answered.

Natsu burst out laughing when he heard a long, disappointed sigh come from across the line, feeling his brother's despondency radiating from miles away. "Anyways," Zeref said, the disappointment still evident in his voice. "I'm gonna be coming home soon."

Natsu stood upright, his eyes wide and his hammock swinging from his sudden movement. "No way, I thought you were gonna be gone for a few more months!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Well," Zeref started. "shit happens."

"Oh Mavis will b-"

"Don't tell Mavis!" Zeref exclaimed suddenly, cutting his little brother off. "I want to surprise her."

"Oooo! Did you have anything in mind?" Natsu asked.

"Not yet," Zeref told him. "I'll tell you when I think of something, okay? I have to go, talk to you later."

"Okay, bye Zeref." Hearing the click that signified the end of the call, Natsu threw his phone back onto the floor. He petted the top of Happy's head. "Zeref is coming back, isn't that neat?" He asked. Happy let out a mewl in response.

Natsu laid back down, closing his eyes with a smile on his face. He hadn't seen his brother in ages. He couldn't wait. Right as Natsu was about to drift off to sleep, his phone rang again. Natsu's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I thought he said he had to go…" He mumbled, grabbing his phone from off of the floor and picking it up. "I thought you said you had to go,"

"What?" The feminine voice asked over the line. "The first two times I've called you you've never picked up, what do you mean you thought I said I had to go?"

Natsu looked at the caller ID and he shot up, his eyes practically bulging out of his head because, one, he saw that it was the same person who not only called him twice, but who he had also mistaken Zeref for at the beginning of their call, and two, the voice sounded really familiar.

"Sorry," Natsu apologized. "Wrong person." His eyes practically bugged out again. "WAIT! Why am I even apologizing to you?!" He yelled. "Who are you?! Why do you keep calling me?! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Really?" The voice asked. "You're going to sleep at 9 pm?"

"Yeah," Natsu answered as if it were obvious. "Who doesn- wait, how do you know my timezone?!"

"Area code, Genius." The voice let out a laugh that was a rather angelic laugh for a total stranger.

"Oh." Natsu blinked, totally forgetting that. "Right."

"Well," The stranger started. "For your information, a lot of people go to bed by 10 or 11, sometimes later."

"What?" Natsu asked. "Really? How do they wake up at 6, then?"

He could hear the stranger laughing from across the line. "They don't. They wake up at 8 or 9."

"Why do you know this?" Natsu asked.

"Because I'm one of those people?" The stranger replied in a questioning tone.

"Ew."

"Ew?!"

"Ew."

"Well, I'm sorry for liking to observe the stars each night."

"You like to do that?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah."

"Are you even human?"

"Hahaha very funny."

"Who even are you?"

"Obviously I'm human."

"No, I mean, who are you?"

"Good question."

"You don't even know?!" Natsu exclaimed. He heard her laugh from across the line, and something inside of his heart lit on fire.

"Relax, it was just a joke." She assured him.

"Well, I know for a fact that you're female; and you're either an Astrology major or minor, or you're just one of those cringeworthy girls who post pictures of themselves with the stars with even more cringy captions."

"My home is in the stars~" The stranger sang, putting on an obnoxiously cartoony and high pitched voice.

"Ew, please don't tell me you're the latter," He begged.

"Who says I'm not both?" She asked, her normal voice resuming.

There was silence for a few moments before Natsu replied. "Okay, so she's definitely not human." He pretended as if he were talking to himself.

"HEY!"

Natsu burst out laughing. "What star are you from?" He asked, referencing her quote from earlier.

"Well it's common knowledge that stars are too hot to sustain human life, but if they did contain an extraterrestrial life force, then I would have been dead by now because compared to any star, including the CFBDSIR 1458 10b, which has a temperature of around 97 degrees- even the hottest places on earth would be considered too cold to sustain life for not even half of a year when it comes to any extraterrestrial being who lives their life in a place with star-like temperatures." The stranger told Natsu this all in one go, no breaths taken.

"Hmm," Natsu thought for a moment. "Isn't that temperature the same as a freshly brewed cup of coffee?" He asked.

"So, science major or minor, huh?" The girl asked.

"How did you know?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"No one here uses Celsius except people who like science." She told him. "If you weren't a science major then you would've assumed that I meant Fahrenheit and told me that an extraterrestrial being from that star could've lived in a desert."

"Smart," Natsu replied. "But maybe I'm not from here."

"You don't have an accent." She told him.

"Damn, you're good." Natsu told her.

"Maybe you're just bad." She teased. The way she said those words made a part of Natsu melt inside.

"Maybe." He mused. "Now, can you tell me who you are?" He asked.

"Can I?" She asked. "Well, let me guess. You're a major in science, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Natsu told her. "Chemistry major. I take it you're an Astrology major?" He asked.

"Yeah, but for an idiot like you I never would have thought you'd be a chemistry major."

"You don't even know me!" Natsu exclaimed.

"You don't even know that!" She mocked.

"Creepy!" Natsu cried, getting a laugh out of the girl. "Do you know me?"

"Honestly," She started. "Not really. Most of the stuff I know about you I learned from you."

"Most?! What about the other stuff?!"

"I only learned one thing outside of all of the stuff you told me." She told him.

"What is that?" Natsu asked, scared.

"You have a cute name, Natsu Dragneel~" She giggled. Natsu froze, his breath hitching in his throat. "I like it."

Natsu was stunned silent for a moment, shaking his head and returning to his senses. "How did you find that out?! Who are you?!" He asked.

"A female of the human specimen who studies astrology. Who are you?" She asked.

"That's not what I meant!" Natsu exclaimed. "Who are you?!"

"Who are you?"

"I asked you first!"

"I asked you second!"

"Can you please answer me?!"

"Look, if you really want to know who I am then want to meet at 8 island tomorrow afternoon?" She asked.

"Should I be scared?" Natsu asked.

"What, do I sound like a 40-year-old man who lives in his mom's basement?" She retorted. "I need help with something, just please come. I'll text you the details, okay?" she asked.

"Fine." Natsu looked at the time on his phone, his eyes widening. "Holy smokes it's 10:30 pm!" He exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, forgot you go to sleep at 9." She laughed. "Goodnight then, Natsu."

"Wait, what should I put as your contact name?" Natsu asked her.

"Hmm…" There was a pause as she thought for a moment. "Whatever you'd like," With that, the sound of the call ending was the last thing Natsu heard.

Natsu stared at his phone for a few more seconds before throwing it onto the floor, falling back onto his bed. "Finally," He sighed, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Class dismissed," The history teacher called, and Natsu raced out of the classroom. Normally, Natsu wouldn't rush out of the class. It's not that Natsu hated his history class- he actually loved it, and it came rather easily to him- but the stranger he had talked to yesterday told him to meet him at 8 Island at 4 pm, which was the time it was now. History class had run a little longer than Natsu had expected it to.

Natsu did not like to be late when it came to meeting new people, it was a thing that Igneel, his foster father, had taught him when he was little. Natsu hurried out of the campus and down the busy streets of the city, constantly checking the time on his phone.

Thank god Natsu was a fast walker- he really didn't want to take a taxi and stumble into the restaurant like a dizzy drunk man about to throw up. He arrived at the restaurant five minutes after 4. Praying that the stranger wouldn't kill him, he calmed down his breathing, fixing his posture and raking a hand through his hair as he walked inside. He went up to the lady behind the entrance podium, clearing his throat. "Is there a person-"

"Yes," The lady answered before he could even finish. Seeing his confused expression, she continued. "She told me you had pink hair."

"Oh," Natsu blinked.

"Follow me," The lady smiled, walking down the middle aisle with tables on either side. "Here we ware," The lady told Natsu, stopping at a table. She then left to go back to the podium.

Natsu took a seat at the table, staring at the curvaceous girl in front of him with wide eyes. There, sitting in front of him, was the girl who was on his mind nonstop ever since yesterday the second she had stepped foot into his classroom by mistake.

"Nice to see you came," She told Natsu. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come."

Natsu blinked away his shock, searching his mind for words. "Well, I apologize for being late," He started. "My class ran a little longer than normal. And plus, why would I want to miss out on the chance of meeting my stalker?" Natsu asked, a grin spreading across his face.

The voluptuous blonde pouted her lips, crossing her arms. "I never stalked you!" She exclaimed.

"Then how'd you know my hair was pink?" He asked.

"A picture, obviously." She answered.

"How'd you get my picture?!"

"Secret." She winked.

"Well, can you at least tell me your name?"

The girl sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "If you'll answer this question I have, then yeah."

"Fine, but tell me your name first." Natsu demanded.

She grinned. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia. Is your hair naturally pink?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Natsu frowned. The name didn't ring a bell in his mind, but yet when he saw her the other day he felt like he had known her from somewhere before. The fact that Natsu couldn't recall drove him absolutely nuts, to say the least. Relax, he thought to himself. It's probably just a case of Deja Vu. "No," Natsu shook his head. "It's black. Exposure to chemical radiation changed it to pink." He told her.

Maybe it was the way her chocolate eyes lit up, or maybe it was the way a gasp escaped her mouth as her lips curved into a smile, but something about Lucy made Natsu's heart soar. "Really?" She asked. "That's so cool!"

"It's not all that cool when people are up your ass the next day asking why you dyed your hair pink, how you dyed it so good, and if you could dye their hair for them," Natsu told her, not bothering to take in consideration if she was comfortable with cuss words.

If there was one thing that Natsu was certain of, it was that her laugh was much cuter and bubbly than it was over the phone. "That must've been a pain," She mused.

The footsteps nearing their table caused Natsu and Lucy to look up. "Good afternoon," The waitress gave the two a smile, then pausing as she looked at Natsu. "Natsu?" She asked.

"Hey, Erza!" He grinned.

"Didn't expect to see you here." She looked a Lucy and pursed her lips in thought- a look which made Lucy squirm in her seat. "Is that the girl that Gray was talking about?" She asked.

A blush sneaked onto Natsu's face. "Ironically, yes." He told Erza. "But he made me seem like a creep the way he told you about our encounter with her!" Natsu protested.

Erza laughed. "So good to finally meet you," She told Lucy, smiling politely and holding her hand out.

Lucy smiled back, her shoulders relaxing. "I'm Lucy, it's nice to meet you too." She replied, shaking her hand.

Erza firmly shook her hand back, pulling her hand back after a few seconds. "I'm Erza, and I'll be your waitress for the day- may I start you off with something to drink?" She asked the two.

"Coke!" Natsu cheered happily.

"Make that two, please." Lucy added, smiling at Erza.

"Two cokes coming right up." Erza smiled, heading off.

"You like Coke too?!" Natsu asked, a happy look on his face.

"Yeah," Lucy nodded.

"Oh, thank god," Natsu grinned. "People who like Pepsi disgust me. Like Gray-" Natsu paused. "Wait a second- was it Gray who gave you my number?" He asked.

"The picture too~" Lucy answered, winking.

Natsu groaned. "That stripper is gonna get it the next time I see him."

"Kinky~" Lucy sang.

"NO!" Natsu exclaimed. "I meant to say I'm gonna beat his ass!"

"Ooh, didn't know you were into that kind of stuff, Lucy teased.

Natsu groaned, slamming his head onto the table. "You're really annoying," He told her, his voice muffled.

"Why thank you," Lucy smiled brightly. "I try."

Erza came up to the table, placing the drinks onto the table. "I see you two are getting along well." She mused.

Lucy laughed. "I guess you could say that,"

"Do you two need some time to order?" Erza asked.

"Yes please," Lucy answered.

Erza nodded. "Alright, I'll be back soon." She told Lucy, taking her leave.

"Natsu quit moping and look up for a second, 4 o'clock." She told him, her voice a low whisper laced with seriousness.

Natsu looked up, turning to look. He saw a short blunette and a burly black-haired man sitting at a booth, talking- with some laughing on the girl's part. "Who are they?" Natsu asked, turning his head back to Lucy.

"My friends, Levy and Gajeel." Lucy answered. "Remember when I told you I only knew one thing about you that you didn't tell me?" She asked.

Natsu blinked. "Yeah, why?"

"I lied." Lucy told him bluntly. "Gray told me three things- four if you include your number. He told me your name, he showed me a picture of you, and he also told me your senses are heightened, is that true?" She asked.

"Yeah," Natsu nodded. "Why ya asking?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Can you hear what those two are saying?" She asked.

"Do you have a clip of what they sound like?" Natsu asked.

"Um, I can get a clip of one of them whispering, will that work?" Lucy asked.

Natsu hummed for a moment. "What about the other one?" He asked.

"Low voice," She informed him, pulling out her phone and searching up Levy's youtube channel. "His laugh sounds like Gihihi or something."

"Gihihi or something?" Natsu asked.

Lucy nodded, clicking a video and skipping to a random point in. "Gihihi or something." Lucy turned up the volume and was about to hand Natsu the phone when he put his hand up to stop her.

"I hear them," He told Lucy.

"All it took was one second?!" Lucy exclaimed, her eyes popping out of her head. "How did you even hear that?!"

The corner of Natsu's lips curved up into a smirk. "It pays to be the lab rat sometimes," He told her.

Something about the way Natsu looked at her made shivers go running down her spine, causing a pink blush to explode onto her cheeks. "Aside from heightening your senses and making your hair turn pink, what else does it do?" Lucy asked, tugging at her shirt collar and looking down at the menu to avoid his gaze.

Erza came up to the two, a warm smile on her face. "Are you two ready to order?" She asked.

"Yes, can I have the Chicken Caesar Salad?" Lucy asked, giving Erza a smile in return.

Erza nodded, turning to Natsu. "And let me guess," She started.

"The hottest item on the menu." They chorused in unison.

"Yep!" Natsu laughed.

"Alright, I'll be back later with your food." Erza told the two, taking her leave.

Taking a sip of her coke, Lucy looked at Gajeel and Levy. "What are they saying?" She asked.

Natsu pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm," He hummed. "Something along the lines of "Why is Lucy staring at us?" Coming from Levy."

Lucy almost spat out her coke, instead violently swallowing it and letting out a pained cough. "Shit, no way," She cursed under her breath.

Natsu burst out laughing. "You fell for it!" He mocked, wiping a few tears that had sprung from the corners of his eyes.

Lucy glared at him, that same adorable pout gracing her features. "Well, how was I supposed to know?" She asked, taking a sip of her coke.

"Look," Natsu started. "I know what you want me to listen for, and quite frankly, it seems like they're just having a normal conversation." He told her.

"What are they saying?" Lucy asked.

"Nothing along the lines of what you're looking for, I can assure you." Natsu said, taking a sip of his drink. "But if you don't trust me then I could give you more specifics."

Lucy bit her lip. Should she trust Natsu? Lucy sighed, deciding to go with her gut. "It's just that they'd look so cute together as a couple, and I want them to be happy." She admitted. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for a happy ending."

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "Why focus on them though?" He asked. "Can't you just focus on what's in front of you right now?"

Lucy blushed, her grip around her cup tightening. Was he talking about…

"You're about to get some really delicious food, that's what you should be anxious about!" Natsu grinned.

Lucy deadpanned, her grip on the cup tightening and almost shattering the glass. Why didn't I see this coming? She thought to herself, sighing. "Talking about food," Lucy started. "You eat spicy things a lot?"

Natsu nodded. "Can't live without it!" He told her.

Lucy scrunched up her nose. "I hate spicy things. It's too much for me."

"Oh," Natsu mumbled, looking as if someone's blade had pierced right through his heart, shattering it to minuscule pieces.

"H-hey more for you, r-right?" Lucy asked, trying to cheer him up.

Natsu smiled at her. "Guess you're right about that," He laughed. "What kind of food do you like?" He asked.

Lucy shrugged. "I'll try anything as long as it's not spicy, raw, or moving." She told him."

Natsu sniggered, deciding it would be a perfect time to get Lucy back for earlier. "Oh, so you don't like it raw?" He asked, holding back a chortle.

"Hahaha," Lucy faked a laugh. "That was very funny of you."

"I know!" Natsu grinned.

"Hmm…" Lucy pursed her lips in thought. "I meant to ask this earlier, but what year are you in?" She asked.

"Guess." Natsu replied.

"Oh, so we're playing this game now?" Lucy asked, tilting her head. "Hmm… Junior year?" She asked.

Natsu's jaw dropped. "How did you know?!" He exclaimed.

"Well, you're friends with Gray, and Gray seems like a junior, so I just put two and two together." Lucy answered. "Guess what year I'm in."

"Sophomore." He guessed.

"No." Lucy shook her head. "I'm a Freshman."

"Oooh, fresh meat~" Natsu teased. "I should have guessed, though, considering you went into the wrong class."

"Yeah, oops," Lucy smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. "Say, was what Gray said true?" Lucy asked.

"Depends how he said it." Natsu answered, leaning back in his chair. "Yes, I was looking at the door ever since you left, but no, I wasn't acting like a loser."

"Then why were you looking?" Lucy asked.

Natsu shrugged. "You just looked…" He trailed off.

"Hot?" Lucy urged. "Why thank you~"

"You need to hop off of the ego train and onto the patience train…" Natsu mumbled. "I meant to say that you looked familiar… That's it though. You didn't sound familiar, just looked the part."

Lucy frowned. "I've never actually got a good look at you in person until just a few minutes ago. Where would we have met before?" She asked.

"Do you know the Fairy Tail pub?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shook her head. "Never been." She told him.

Natsu raked a hand through his hair. "I should take you there one day. A lot of crazy stuff always happens!" He grinned.

Lucy smiled warmly at Natsu. "That sounds like fun."

"Woah, Natsu," Erza spoke up, causing both of them to look up in surprise. "Look at you go, taking her to the pub." She laughed. "Anyways, one chicken caesar salad for you," She smiled at Lucy, placing the plate down in front of her. "And one flaming hot chili for you." She placed a bowl down in front of Natsu. "Is there anything else I can get you two?" Erza asked the two.

"Actually," Lucy spoke up. "You see those two people over there?" She asked, pointing to Levy and Gajeel who were almost done with their meal. "Could you get them a vanilla milkshake and give them two straws?" Lucy asked.

Erza nodded, a glint of determination in her eyes. "You got it," She winked, walking away.

"Hey Lucy," Natsu spoke up. "I have a question."

"Hm?" Lucy hummed, taking a forkful of her salad and eating it.

"You're paying, right?" Natsu asked.

Lucy almost choked on her salad. "Fine," she said. "It's only fair since I was the one who brought you here anyway." She concluded. "But when you take me to Fairy Tail, you better pay." Lucy pointed her fork at him.

Natsu nodded, a grin on his face. "It's a date, then." He said, emitting a blush from Lucy's cheeks.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: 5.5k words. This chapter is exactly 5.5k words. I wrote a little flashback in it, and if I were to remove that alongside the author's note, then it would've been 4.5k words, like the previous chapter was without the author's note. A big _special_ shout out to guest, for being a very good guest and reviewing; Juviafullbuster1, for reviewing twice (though I'm pretty sure the second review was a reply to the first one, lol), and Ushindeshi for becoming a new reviewer! Welcome to the squad! All of your reviews mean the world to me, so thank you so much! I also enjoyed having a little conversation with Ushindeshi, and I wouldn't mind if any of you guys PMed me. I'd love to get to know my readers better! (Hope that's not creepy oops, sorry!) Also, please don't forget to review! I'd be so happy to hear from you!**

**Guest: I would say that about Natsu, but I'm not sure about Lucy _yet. _I also really liked that expression you used- very creative! Thank you so much for reviewing!**

_**TRIGGER WARNING:**_ **_This chapter contains mention of Chapter 4's suicide attempt. Please read with caution._**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Levy_

"Hey, shrimp." An unexpected gruff voice called out.

Levy shrieked, practically jumping out of her skin. She looked behind her to see Gajeel leaning against the wall, a small "Gihi" escaping his lips.

"Gajeel!" Levy whined. "You scared the living daylight out of me!" She pouted.

"I can see that." Gajeel commented, obviously enjoying himself.

"It's not funny!" Levy pounded her fist against his chest.

"Sure," Gajeel snickered, grabbing Levy's wrist and stopping her mid-pound.

"Let me go!" Levy complained, yanking her wrist away from Gajeel. "Why are you here anyway?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Come with me," Gajeel told her, pushing himself off of the wall and started to walk away.

"What?!" Levy asked. "Why?" Gajeel said nothing, he just kept walking. Levy groaned, giving in. "Wait up!" She called out to Gajeel, running after him. She huffed, walking alongside him. "Where are we going?" She asked him.

Gajeel grunted. "You'll see." He told Levy, not looking at her.

Levy sighed, walking alongside Gajeel. She figured she wasn't going to get an answer out of him. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at 8 Island, a nice little restaurant. "Why'd you take me here?" She asked, looking up at Gajeel.

Gajeel didn't give a verbal response- instead, he took her hand and pulling her inside. He went up to the lady behind the restaurant podium. "Table for two, please."

The lady nodded, leading them to a booth seat. She placed the menus down and then walked off. Gajeel and Levy took a seat across each other, an awkward silence hanging over the two of them.

Levy cleared her throat. "Gajeel," She started, tilting her head to the side slightly. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked, concern laced throughout her words. "Is something wrong?"

"Long story." Gajeel huffed, resting his arms onto the table and looking down at the menu.

Levy smiled softly at Gajeel. "I've got time," She told him.

"Do you know what Juvia and I were talking about yesterday?" Gajeel asked, his voice rather quiet.

Levy shook her head. "No, is everything alright?" She asked, a dash of concern within her voice.

Gajeel hesitated for a moment, opening his mouth to speak only to close it seconds later. There was a frown- not a scowl- on his face, with genuine sadness in his eyes.

The waitress came up to the two, a smile on her face. "Good afternoon," She greeted the duo with a happy voice. "I'm Erza, and I'll be your server for today. Can I start you two off with some drinks?"

"Can I have a water please?" Levy asked. "Also, I really like your hair, it's so pretty!" She smiled.

Erza's face lit up. "Thank you," She said. "And what would you like, sir?" She asked, turning to Gajeel.

"Dr. Pepper." Gajeel answered, not looking up.

Levy sent Erza a silent apology with her eyes, and Erza nodded at Levy. "I'll be right back with your drinks," She told them, leaving the table.

Levy turned her gaze to Gajeel, a worried look in her eyes. She gently rested her hand atop his arm, causing him to look up at her. "It's okay," She told Gajeel. "You can tell me. And if you don't want to, then that's okay too." Levy sent Gajeel a reassuring smile.

Gajeel bit his lip, moving his right arm from underneath his left arm and putting his hand on top of Levy's. He looked up at her, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. "Juvia..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Juvia tried to commit suicide."

Levy gasped, her eyes wide. "No way," She mumbled, rendered speechless by Gajeel's words. She couldn't believe that her friend had tried to take her own life. Levy had presumed that she had just got caught in the rain, and now she felt bad for assuming nothing was wrong. Levy's thoughts were cut off by Gajeel's voice.

"She- she told me that she had went to the roof to jump off- but that Gray or whoever she was with-" Gajeel paused, taking a shaky breath. "He had stopped her before she actually did it." He told her.

"Well, thank god that he saved her." Levy smiled. She saw Gajeel scowl and look away from her, turning his eyes towards the window instead. Levy frowned. "Gajeel? Is there something else on your mind?" She asked.

The sound of footsteps approaching their table made Levy look up. With her free hand, she held up a finger to her mouth. Erza nodded, setting the drinks down gently and mouthing to Levy that she'd give the two more time.

Levy turned her attention back to Gajeel, only to see that he was looking at her. Levy's heart sank when she saw that some of the tears that had collected in his eyes had started to fall down his tan skin. "Gajeel…" She started. "Gajeel, don't cry," Levy reached for some napkins and handed them to him.

Gajeel held up a hand, signaling that he didn't need the napkins. "I wasn't there." He spoke, his voice dull. "When I had come to the dorm building, I had looked at the roof to see if she was there," Gajeel curled his fists into balls. "but I couldn't see anything due to the mist that the rain made. I just assumed she wasn't there, but I shouldn't have." He mumbled. "I should've went up there myself and checked for her."

"Gajeel," Levy tried again, only to get cut off once more.

"What if that guy wasn't there, Levy?" He asked, his voice cracking as it increased in volume. "She would've done it, and we would've been right fucking there, Levy, ignorant to the outside world. I wasn't there to help her, I failed her," More tears threatened to fall from his woeful red eyes. "I'm a bad brother and an eve-"

"Gajeel! Levy exclaimed, taking her cup of water and splashing some of it onto the man. "Will you shut up for one second before you talk yourself to your death?!" She asked. "You didn't know any better, Gajeel, you shouldn't beat yourself up over it."

"Bu-" Gajeel started, only to stop when he saw Levy raise her water again.

"Try to reason otherwise and I will shove this cup down your throat." Levy threatened, getting him to be quiet for good. "Stop dwelling on what you didn't do and focus on what you can do! Be happy that Juvia is alive!" She told Gajeel. "Stop saying you're a bad brother! If Juvia didn't love you then she wouldn't have told you what happened!"

Gajeel's eyes widened at Levy's words as he took a napkin and wiped himself dry, but he refrained himself from saying anything, seeing that Levy still had more to say.

"And talking about love, something you can do for Juvia is support her! I saw the way you scowled at Gray, and while being an overprotective brother is kind of cute, you need to walk in Juvia's shoes. Did you see how Juvia's mood took a U-turn when Gray joined us in watching the movie?" Levy asked. "She really likes him, even a little kid could tell that! The least you can do is support her!"

Gajeel still kept silent, an unreadable emotion hidden inside his red eyes. "You can speak now," Levy told him. "I won't shove my cup down your throat." She gave him a reassuring smile.

After a few more moments of silence, Gajeel sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple with his free hand. "I guess you're right, Levy." He admitted. "Thank you for that." Gajeel gently lifted up her hand, pulling her knuckles to his face and planting a soft kiss against them, relishing the sweet taste of her pale skin. He opened his eyes to look at her, his lips still against her skin.

A light pink blush lit up Levy's cheeks as Gajeel's crimson eyes pierced through her heart, melting it. "N-no need to thank me for that," She told him.

"So, you think being overprotective is cute?" Gajeel asked, referencing to what Levy said earlier.

Levy yanked her hand away from Gajeel, crossing her arms across her chest as her blush deepened. "I-I-" She pouted, hearing Gajeel let out a little "Gihi" at her struggles. "Stop laughing!" She exclaimed.

"Are you two ready to order?" Erza asked them, causing both of the two to look up.

Levy nodded. "Can I have the grilled cheese and tomato soup please?" She asked.

Erza nodded. "And what about you, sir?" She asked Gajeel.

"Can I have a turkey club?" He asked Erza.

"Of course. I'll be back soon with your orders." She told the two, heading off.

"So how long were you waiting outside of my class?" Levy asked Gajeel.

Gajeel shrugged. "I went as soon as my class ended.

"Well, what time does your class end?" Levy asked.

Gajeel shrugged again. "Like, 3:30." He answered.

"You waited for 20 minutes?!" Levy asked, her eyes wide.

Gajeel scoffed. "20 minutes too long." He answered.

Levy let out a little laugh. "How sweet," She commented.

"Tch." Gajeel huffed, crossing his arms.

"Hey Gajeel," Levy asked.

"Hm?"

"Why did you get all those piercings?" She asked him.

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. "Why ya asking?"

Levy shrugged. "No reason, I'm just curious."

"There's a piercing on my body for every person I've killed." Gajeel told Levy.

Levy let out a little shriek, her eyes wide. Gajeel burst out laughing at her reaction, clutching his stomach. "Oh, fuck you!" She exclaimed.

"Can't believe you actually believed that," Gajeel laughed.

"I can't believe I actually believed that either!" Levy retorted, resulting in another fit of laughter from Gajeel. "Really though, what are those piercings for?" She asked.

"Like what you see?" Gajeel asked, wiggling his eyebrows which, ironically, were pierced as well.

"Shut up!" Levy buried her face into her hands, hiding from Gajeel. Gajeel couldn't stop laughing, a few Gihi's escaping his lips. "Just answer my question please!"

"Honestly," Gajeel started. "I don't know why I got these piercings." He told Levy, causing the girl to look up. "I just felt like it."

"So," Levy started. "All of those piercings, are just because you felt like it?" She asked.

"Yeah," Gajeel nodded.

"Unbelievable." Levy said.

"Unlike what I said earlier, which you totally believed. Gihi." Gajeel laughed.

Levy sighed, taking a sip of her water. She made eye contact with Gajeel, who only wiggled his eyebrows at her in response. Levy almost spit out her water, trying to hold back her laughter.

Seeing that Gajeel had made her laugh, he decided to continue. "Hey," he started, a wide grin on his face. "Someone stole my limbo bar," He told her.

There was a look on Levy's face that said "Oh god please kill me now,"

"I mean, how low can you go?" He asked.

Levy grabbed a napkin and spit out her drink into it, laughing. "Gajeel," Levy complained in between laughs. "Stop making me laugh, I'm trying to drink my water!"

Gajeel didn't want to stop, though. He loved seeing her happy, and even more so he loved to hear her laugh. Of course, he'd never admit that though. "Awww, come on shrimp," He grinned at her. "Live a little!"

Levy blushed, averting her gaze. "Well," She started. "I need water to live, so please let me drink my damn water," She said, starting to burst out into laughs again.

"You still laughing at that?" Gajeel asked. "Weak."

"Excuse me?" Levy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me, shrimp." He smirked.

"Take a sip of your Dr. Pepper, then." Levy challenged. Gajeel complied, taking a sip of his Dr. Pepper and not swallowing. "I just bit into a frozen apple." She told Gajeel. "Hardcore."

Gajeel's hand flew to his face, snorting so hard that the Dr. Pepper had flown out of his nostrils. "Fuck," He mumbled, laughing. "That was so bad that it was pretty damn funny."

"Oh ew!" Levy cringed, grabbing some napkins. "Here," She handed them to him, holding back her laughter.

Gajeel took the tissues, wiping up the mess he made on himself and the table. "I think you win," He told Levy, accepting defeat.

Levy pumped her fist in the air in victory. "Bow down to me!" She cheered.

"No, you weirdo." Gajeel said.

"Aw," Levy pouted, a frown on her face.

The smell of fresh food greeted Gajeel and Levy. "One grilled cheese and tomato soup," Erza said, placing the plate in front of Levy. "And one turkey club." She placed another plate in front of the two. "Can I get you two anything else?" She asked. Levy and Gajeel shook their heads, and she smiled, leaving the table to serve her other customers.

"Fuck yeah," Gajeel exclaimed, taking the toothpick off of his sandwich and chowing down.

Levy laughed at his animal-like behavior. "I've never been here before," She told him. "I assume the food is good?" She asked.

Gajeel swallowed. "I've never had that before, but I bet it's just as good as this." He told her.

Levy dipped her grilled cheese into her tomato soup, taking a bite. Her eyes instantly lit up. "It is good!" She exclaimed in between bites.

As the two finished eating, a question popped into her mind at his earlier statement before they had received their food, and she frowned.

"What's wrong?" Gajeel asked.

"Do you think I'm weird?" Levy asked him.

"In a good way, yeah." Gajeel smirked.

Levy smiled slightly, resting her elbow on the table and then resting her chin in her palm, looking out of the window.

Gajeel tilted his head slightly. "Something wrong?" He asked, worried that he said the wrong thing.

Levy turned her gaze to Gajeel. "Why do you hang out with me?" She asked.

"Huh?" Gajeel blinked, caught off guard by her question.

"We're such different people," Levy started, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I read books and have an asmr channel while you're in a rock band with piercings all over your body. What about me made you want to be my friend?" She asked.

Gajeel chuckled a little, causing Levy to raise an eyebrow at him in confusion. "The stars can't shine without the darkness." He told her.

"What about the sun?" Levy asked, tilting her head.

"Shut the fuck up you're like 4'10" A tick mark appeared on Gajeel's forehead, and Levy couldn't help but laugh.

"I had to," Levy told him, ignoring his comment about her height.

Gajeel sighed, a knowing smile on his face. "Anyways, If you're smart enough to correct me, then you're smart enough to know what I mean. It's a little ironic, though." He let out a laugh. "A few years ago I would've asked myself the same question."

"Really?" Levy asked.

Gajeel nodded. "Yeah. I thought you would've forgotten about me once you finished being my guide for that first week." He admitted. "Maybe not Juvia, but definitely me."

Levy laughed a little. "I actually thought the opposite." She told him, causing his eyes to widen. "I thought you'd stop talking to me after that week."

Gajeel smiled at Levy, genuine happiness with a twinge of an unknown emotion in his eyes. "I'm glad we're friends." He told her.

Levy smiled back at Gajeel. "Me too."

A loud thud was heard on the table, and both Gajeel and Levy's eyes widened. In front of them was a vanilla milkshake, with a single red candy cherry on top and two red straws sticking out of it.

"Someone told me to give this to you," Erza said, winking at them. "I'll be back later with the check, enjoy~" With that, they walked off.

Gajeel and Levy looked at the milkshake, then at each other, confusion evident in their eyes. "Did you-" They both started at the same time, pausing. "No, I didn-" They paused again, realizing that they were both speaking at the same time again.

Levy looked out around the restaurant, but couldn't see anyone who she knew. "Do you see anyone we know?" She asked.

Gajeel, however, already knew who it was. He could hear the voice of bunny girl, Levy's roommate, and some other boy. Gajeel assumed it was them, but kept his mouth shut nonetheless, pretending to look around. "No," Gajeel told her.

Gajeel and Levy looked at each other, an awkward air around them. "Well," Levy started. "What are we waiting for?" She asked.

Gajeel shrugged. "That's a good fucking question." He answered, leaning forward and taking a sip from one of the straws.

Levy blushed, taking a sip from the other straw. As they drank, Levy noticed some things about Gajeel that she hadn't noticed before. The way his mane of unruly black hair cascaded down his shoulders, the way his numerous facial piercings highlighted his features, and the way his maroon eyes glinted whenever he was thinking; all of this made Levy wish that she had gotten a better look at Gajeel sooner.

Her eyes trailed down. Gajeel was the kind of person who never folded the collar of his shirts, which always exposed his collar bone, and this shirt was no exception. Levy was about to trail her eyes downwards, when her cheeks started to heat up and she decided to go sideways instead. Levy noticed something odd about his shoulders; they looked tense, almost looked as if he was holding back something. Levy furrowed her eyebrows for a second, before the resumed their relaxed position. Levy pulled away from the straw.

"These milkshakes are really good, huh?" She asked.

Gajeel nodded, pulling away from the straw. "Yeah,"

"I'm kinda full, you can have the rest," Levy told him.

Gajeel shrugged. "Okay," He said. Gajeel took out the two straws and set them on the table, chugging the milkshake down in mere seconds. Gajeel wiped his face with his wrist.

"Whatever happened to napkins?" Levy asked.

"What did the people do before napkins were invented?" Gajeel asked, rendering Levy silent. Gajeel grinned. "Gihi," He laughed. "Got you,"

Erza went up to the two. "Did you guys enjoy your food?" She asked. Gajeel and Levy nodded. "Good," She placed the receipt onto the table, walking away from the two.

"I'll get it," Levy started, reaching into her satchel.

"Too late," Gajeel told her, already sifting through his wallet for his credit card.

Levy's eyes popped out of her head. "How did you do that so fast?!" She asked, her voice practically a shout.

"Gihi," Was all that Gajeel had said, writing on the receipt and then placing his card on top. He waved Erza down, who walked over to the two with a smile on her face.

"I'll be back shortly," She told them, taking the card and the receipt and heading straight towards the cash register.

"Thank you, Gajeel." Levy smiled at the man sitting in front of her. "This was really nice of you."

Gajeel scoffed, avoiding her gaze. "It's nothing," He told her.

"No, really," Levy smiled. "This was fun. We should do this more often."

Gajeel rested his chin in his open palm, using his fingers to shield his blush from Levy, which Levy was still able to see anyways. "Tch, whatever." Was all he said.

Levy let out a little laugh at his childish behavior.

Erza had returned, placing a copy of the receipt and Gajeel's card back on the table. "Thank you for coming to 8 island," She smiled at the two. "I hope you guys have a great evening." She left the table for the last time, tending to her other customers.

Gajeel took his card and put it back into his wallet, getting up from his seat. "Let's go, before it gets dark." He told her.

"It won't get dark for another hour, though." Levy pointed out, getting up.

"I knew that," Gajeel mumbled, taking Levy's hand and walking out of the restaurant with him.

Levy blushed, looking down at their hands. As they walked, a nice, cool breeze flew around the two. It was September, and the first few signs of cold had just started to show itself. "It's so nice outside," Levy commented, a smile on her face.

"Tch," Gajeel scoffed, nodding his head in agreement. Levy frowned, remembering her observation from earlier.

"Hey, Gajeel?" She asked as they walked down the sidewalk together.

"Hm?"

"What you told me about Juvia…" Levy started. "That's not the only reason why you brought me here, was it?" She asked.

Gajeel's grip on her hand tightened and he raised his eyebrows. "Hm?"

"I saw your shoulders were tense earlier, as if you still had something else on your mind that was bothering you." Levy told him. "Even just now, your grip tightened. Also, ever since we left, you started giving me responses that aren't even words, just noises."

Gajeel looked down at their hands, mumbling a curse.

Levy rested her free hand on his arm. "You know that you can tell me anything, Gajeel." She reminded him.

Gajeel grunted. "Fine, fine," He sighed. "You caught me." Gajeel looked up at the sky. "Do you know what today is?" He asked Levy.

Levy thought for a moment. "Um, September 9th?" She asked.

Gajeel shook his head. "No," He paused. "Well, yes, but… Six years ago today, was the day we met."

Levy looked up at Gajeel. "I didn't know you'd bother to remember that, Gajeel. Even I didn't remember that," She admitted. "But now that you say it, yeah…" She mused. "That does sound right."

"But to think," Gajeel started. "We've known each other for six years."

"Woah," Levy gasped. "It's been so long, huh?" She asked, a warm smile on her face as she remembered their first interaction.

* * *

Levy waited happily in the front office, her feet swinging. She was too short for her feet to reach the floor on the high chairs that they had. The door opened, and out walked the principal. "Levy," He started. "Meet Juvia and Gajeel."

Two kids stepped out of the room. There was a girl around Levy's age, with beautiful, short curly cerulean hair. She was looking down at her feet, not making eye contact with Levy. Next to her was her brother, a rather tall teen who looked to be a year older than him and his sister. His long, irrepressible, jet black hair tied up into a ponytail so it was out of his face. On his face were numerous piercings on his eyebrows, nose, and chin.

What caught Levy's attention, however, was his charming red eyes, which had captured Levy's eye the second he stepped into her view, luring her into their depths.

Levy smiled at the two, stepping off of the chair. She was notably shorter than the two of them. "Hello!" She greeted. "I'm Levy! It's nice to meet you!"

Juvia looked up, smiling shyly at Juvia. "It's nice to meet you too." Her voice was almost like a whisper. "I'm Juvia."

Gajeel said nothing, a scowl on his face. "You're short." He said- though it sounded more as a statement then it did an insult.

"Now, now," The principal smiled at the kids. "Be nice. Levy will help you get around the school, and you can sit with her at lunch. All three of you are excused from first period so that Levy can show you around." He told the kids, handing each of them a pass. "Have fun," He waved, going back into his office.

"What grade are you in?" Juvia asked.

"I'm in 7th!" Levy said proudly.

Juvia nodded, clasping her hands together. "I would be in 7th grade, but when I transferred here they saw that I knew all of the curriculum already, so now I'm in 8th grade!" She boasted.

Levy's eyes instantly lit up. "That's so cool!" She praised, then turning towards Gajeel. "What grade are you in?" She asked him.

"8th." Was all he told her.

"Woah," Levy mumbled. "You guys are both a year above me." She frowned. "We probably won't have any classes together, but we'll probably have lunch together. I hope even after this week we can still be friends!" She smiled at the two.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah! Of course we'll still be friends, right Gajeel?" She asked her brother.

All Gajeel did was grunt.

Levy and Juvia sweatdropped at Gajeel's actions. Levy turned to Juvia. "Let's get going, I've got a lot to show you," She said, walking towards the exit of the office.

"Okay!" Juvia beamed, following Levy.

As the two walked, Levy stopped, turning around. Gajeel was still where they previously were, leaning against the wall and looking at her. The two made eye contact, a non-violent spark flying through the air. "Are you coming?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Gajeel closed his eyes, scoffing as he pushed himself off of the wall. "Yeah," He said, walking towards her.

Levy smiled at him. At that moment, before he had pushed himself off of the wall, Levy swore she could've seen the corners of his mouth twitch up into a small smile. It was also at that moment, she knew. The three of them would be friends for a long time to come.

* * *

"Yeah," Gajeel nodded. "It's been so long since that day." He looked up. They had already arrived at the dorm building. Gajeel held the door open for Levy, sneaking a peek at her ass as she walked in.

"Thank you," Levy said.

"Anytime," Gajeel chuckled, following her to the elevators.

"So," Levy started, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" She asked, pressing the button to the elevator.

Gajeel bit his lip. "I'm not sure how to say this," He told her. The elevator dinged, and he and Levy stepped inside, Gajeel pressing the button to floor 3.

"Well, then," Levy started. "Don't say it."

"What?" Gajeel asked, thrown off guard by her statement.

"I mean," Levy corrected herself. "Don't just say it. There are so many forms of communication- just saying something is only the beginning." She informed him.

Gajeel nodded at her words, understanding the meaning of them. The elevator dinged, and they stepped out. "I think," He started as they neared his room. "I think I know what I want to do."

"Oh no," Levy faked agony. "Don't tell me you're gonna sing!"

Gajeel furrowed his eyebrows. "I wasn't that bad a singer when I was little!" He argued.

Levy laughed. "Sure."

"Well, I'm better now!" He protested. "And plus, that's not what I was gonna do."

Levy's brown eyes shone with curiosity. "Then what were you gonna do?" She asked. The two had stopped in front of Levy's door. Gajeel let go of her hand to stand face-to-face with her.

Ever since they met, Levy knew that Gajeel was a blunt man, not caring what others thought about his rash actions, though taking their words into consideration every now and then if the words came from someone important to him. Levy, however, didn't expect Gajeel to bend down so they were truly face to face, grab her chin, and pull her in for a kiss.

Levy's eyes widened and her shoulders tensed as everything around her stopped. From her heartbeat to the world around her, time seemed to freeze at that exact moment. This was the last thing that Levy had expected Gajeel to do. Slowly, Levy eased into the kiss, closing her eyes and allowing her shoulders to relax as she tilted her head a little more to the side to deepen the kiss.

Gajeel gently slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Levy melted at the feel of the warmth that his body was giving off, wrapping her arms around his neck to steady herself.

After a few seconds, which had felt like hours to Levy, Gajeel pulled away, resting his forehead gently against Levy. "Levy," He started, his voice a mere whisper. "Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked her.

At that moment, Levy had seen something she had never seen before in Gajeel. His red eyes that had always managed to captivate her at every glance showed happiness, anxiousness, and fear. His eyes had revealed a more vulnerable side of Gajeel that Levy could have never guessed that he had. Just from that look that he had given her, she could tell that he had never had a girlfriend before, let alone kissed a girl before.

Seeing that look made Levy smile softly. For she was in the same boat as him. Sure, for the longest time she had two boys drooling over her, but she never kissed anyone, and she never bothered to date anyone either. She didn't really see her being with anyone else before.

But now, Levy knew her answer. At this point, it was the most obvious thing in the world to her. "Yes," She told Gajeel, her voice merely above a whisper as she softly pecked his lips. "I'd love to be your girlfriend."

A grin escaped on Gajeel's lips, alongside a "Gihi" that slipped out of his mouth. Without warning, he picked Levy up and spun her around, a squeal escaping the blunette's lips. She laughed when he had put her down, hugging him tightly. Gajeel returned the hug, resting his chin on her hair.

The two stayed there for a moment before Gajeel pulled away. "I have to go home," He told her. "I was out too late last night so now Mom wants me home earlier."

Levy nodded. "Tell Belno I said hi!" Levy reached into her bag and pulled out the room key, unlocking the door and stepping inside her dorm. "Bye, Gajeel!" She waved.

"Bye, shrimp." He grinned, waving goodbye to her.

Once he was out of sight, Levy closed the door, sighing happily to herself. She turned her back to the door and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. After a few minutes, Levy got up, walking over to the loveseat and falling onto it, grabbing the throw pillow and squealing into it, holding the pillow tightly to her face.

As she held the pillow tightly to her, the sound of the door being opened made Levy look up. Lucy stepped into the apartment, a smile gracing her features when she saw Levy. "Hey, Levy!" She greeted.

"Hey, Lucy!" Levy cheerily greeted, sitting up and patting the space next to her.

"You seem rather happy," Lucy commented, gingerly sitting down next to Levy. "What's up?" She asked.

"You'll never believe what happened, Lucy!" Levy exclaimed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Thank you everyone for 1k views! I feel so bad for abandoning Jellal and Jerza as a whole, but don't worry, they still exist! Now that i've done all of the eight characters, the order of the chapters might change. Instead of going to Lucy - Erza - Gajeel, I might change it up. I might not, too. Shoutout to Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and kroetzski100 for reviewing! Thank you so much! Please read and review!**

**Uwu what's this? A short chapter? Aahhhh! The world is coming to an end! I didn't feel that this chapter need to be long to get it's point across, so therefore I didn't make it long. I also may or may not have been spending my time drawings the ft characters and looking for rp groups on insta. Oops! Also, if I uploaded a new story, would you guys read it? Please let me know!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Jellal_

"Hello?" Jellal called out as he walked into the house. "Anyone home?" He asked.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs could be heard. "Dad!" The voice of a pre-teen came ringing down the stairs. A pale girl with dark blue hair dashed down the stairs, running up to her dad and giving him a hug.

"Hey there, my little dragon slayer!" Jellal laughed, wrapping his arms around his daughter to return the hug.

"Dad! I told you not to call me that!" She laughed at the old nickname.

"Well, I, for one, think that little dragon slayer sounds much cooler than plain old Wendy." Jellal told his daughter. "But if you say so."

Wendy laughed. "I'm no dragon slayer, dad. I'm just plain old Wendy."

"You're not just plain old Wendy," Jellal pulled away from the hug, smiling softly at the blunette. "You're my daughter." He squished her cheeks.

"Dad!" Wendy laughed, pulling his hands away.

"So," Jellal jingled his keys. "You ready to go out?"

Wendy nodded, her eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

Every year at the start of the school year, Jellal would always take Wendy out to eat, in celebration of the start of a good school year. They'd walk around the city as well, every now and then going into shops. Jellal couldn't do it yesterday, the first day of school, due to having to go to work the other day.

No, not work at the university. Jellal, alongside two other people, Ultear and Meredy, were the founders of a criminal rehabilitation center called Crime Sorciere. At Crime Sorciere, former convicts sought redemption for their past mistakes. They were brought back to their feet there, being taught how to live their life with a criminal record holding them back.

Despite the fact that the rehabilitation center is really young, it was very successful. Just recently, a criminal charged with third degree murder had just been released from prison. His family had abandoned him, so he went to Crime Sorciere to rebuild his life.

When Jellal had heard about this, he went straight from the university to Crime Sorciere, texting Wendy an apology for not being able to take her out that day. Jellal had visited that man because Jellal had seen himself within that man.

At a young age, Jellal was taken from his family and raised in a cult called the R-system. He was taught that life's only purpose was serving the devil and all of his subjects. Even as a kid, Jellal killed many people. The court saw Jellal as a cold-blooded killer. The only reason they didn't charge him with first-degree murder was because he wasn't even a teenager then.

Every day of his life, he was watched over. Even when he was brought back out of the cult and had learned the true ways of life, he was still watched. The court feared him, and since he was a minor, the court wasn't allowed to share information about his case, so no one else knew of his many slaughters.

It took a few years before Jellal met his older brother, Mystogan. Their dad, Faust, had got upset that Mystogan was unable to save his little brother, thus disowning him and leaving him to his own devices. It was a heartfelt reunion between the two, regardless of all of the people supervising them in case Jellal were to do something to his brother.

When Jellal became 15, they decided that it was time to put him to trial. Mystogan had helped him find a lawyer, Ultear, who had managed to get his charge down from first-degree to third-degree murder, which was no easy feat. What would've been a life sentence changed into a 5-year sentence, skipping juvenile prison and sending him straight to a normal prison.

While in prison, Ultear often visited Jellal, sometimes with her, at the time, 7-year-old daughter, Meredy. Ultear had taught him things that he was supposed to be learning in school and told him about current events in the real world.

One day, halfway into his sentence, Meredy told the two that she wished there was a way that Jellal could get forgiveness from the outside world, and not be seen as the monster people often took him for.

Jellal wished that not only for himself, but for the other people who were in the same situation as him. When Jellal got out of prison, with the help of Ultear, and even a little bit of Meredy's help, they founded Crime Sorciere.

Jellal had felt bad for missing his and his daughter's tradition, but when he heard that Erik, a man charged with second-degree murder, had checked into Crime Sorciere, Jellal didn't want to miss the opportunity to meet him.

Most people who entered Crime Sorciere had just done simple misdemeanors; graffiti, theft, fraud- Erik was the first person to come to Crime Sorciere with charges of murder underneath his belt.

Wendy was understanding of this, and didn't mind the delay in their tradition. Jellal had told Wendy a few years back about his trouble in the court. Thankfully, being the nice person she was, she had believed him, and didn't see him as a monster.

Wendy was a wonderful daughter, she was polite and always used manners, and she didn't really ask for much stuff. The most that Wendy had ever asked Jellal for was her cat, Carla.

Naturally, Jellal happily obliged to her request. One could say that Jellal always spoiled his daughter whenever he could. He loved his daughter dearly, and would do anything for her. That's why every day, at the start of the school year (and other dates too), he'd take her out to eat at a random restaurant. It was their special thing.

"So," Jellal started as he made a turn onto a street. "Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Hm…" Wendy hummed, looking out the window. "Let's walk around, maybe we'll find somewhere new!"

Jellal nodded, pulling up to the university. The city had streets that were big enough for four lanes, sometimes two. There wasn't much parallel parking, and most parking garages cost money. The university let people park for free, however, which Jellal was thankful for.

The campus of MU was also rather beautiful. With lots of grass, walkways with a few benches here and there, a few giant oak trees dotted around the fields, and the brick buildings blending in with the scene gave the campus a calm atmosphere.

"You want to go somewhere new or somewhere we've been before?" Jellal asked his daughter, locking his car as they walked towards the exit of the university.

"I was hoping to find somewhere new again," Wendy told her dad, a wide smile on your face.

"Why such a big smile?" Jellal asked her. "Did you have a good first two days?"

Wendy nodded. "Yeah!" She exclaimed. "High school's really fun! I made a new friend, her name is Sherria. She came from the middle school all the way near Lamia!"

"Woah, all the way near LSU?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Wendy nodded.

"That's pretty far." Jellal commented. "Where do you want to look?" He asked her once they had arrived at the city streets and sidewalks.

"Let's just go straight," Wendy smiled, heading in the same direction as her words Wendy and Jellal passed a few shops and restaurants, but only one of them caught their eye. "Look at that restaurant!" Wendy exclaimed.

The restaurant was a rather plain building, with giant windows. What was eye-catching about the restaurant was the bright green plants and the vibrant flowers that were inside the flowerbeds against each window. From the windows she could see people having a good time- couples laughing with one another and eating food that looked delicious.

"Want to go in?" Jellal asked his daughter.

Wendy nodded. "Yeah, let's go!"

Wendy and Jellal walked in, going up to a lady behind a podium. "A table for two, please." Jellal asked.

The lady nodded. "Right this way," She told them, leading them to a table. "A server will be with you shortly." The lady placed two menus down in front of the small family, heading back to the podium.

"This place is so nice on the inside too!" Wendy marveled. "Even the menu's pretty!"

"Yeah," Jellal commented, looking through the menu. "The food seems good too."

It didn't take long for a waitress to come up to their table, and Jellal raised his eyebrows when he saw who it was.

"Good afternoon guys," The waitress greeted. "I'm Erza and I'll be your waitress for the day, may I start you off with some drinks?" She asked.

"Erza, it's good to see you again," Jellal greeted his student.

Erza blinked, taking a second look at Jellal. "Oh! Mr. Fernandes! Sorry, I didn't recognize you," She apologized. "Who's this cutie?" She asked, looking at Wendy.

"It's fine," Jellal smiled. "You can call me Jellal." He turned to Wendy. "Why don't you introduce yourself?" He asked his daughter.

Wendy looked shyly at Erza. "Hi," She gave a small smile. "I'm Wendy, and Jellal is my dad." She told Erza. "Also, um, your hair is really pretty!" Wendy exclaimed, her cheeks lighting up. "Can I please touch it?"

"Thank you! And of course," Erza nodded, giving Wendy a warm smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Wendy slowly reached her hand out, softly stroking Erza's hair. Her eyes instantly brightened, widening in awe. "It's so soft," She mused, a big smile on her face.

Erza laughed softly. "Thank you." She thanked the girl. "Now, may I get you two something to drink?"

"I'll have a water, thanks." Jellal said.

"Can I please have a cherry coke?" Wendy asked her, pulling her hand away.

Erza nodded. "I'll be right back with your drinks," She told the two, leaving the table.

"Is that one of your co-workers?" Wendy asked, tilting her head.

Jellal shook his head. "She's one of my students." He told her.

Wendy frowned. "You have a lot of students, don't you? How do you remember them all?" She asked.

Jellal smiled at Wendy's question. "On the first day of school, I make everyone formally introduce themselves to me for a grade." He explained to his daughter. "It's rather hard to forget someone as…" Jellal bit his lip, looking for an appropriate word to describe Erza.

"As pretty as she is?" Wendy asked.

Jellal couldn't bring himself to answer Wendy's question. While that was along the lines of what he was thinking, he also felt that Erza looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen her before outside of school. Also, wouldn't it be weird to call a student pretty? Sure, she probably wasn't that much younger than him, but still, it seemed kind of strange to Jellal.

"You think she's pretty, don't you?" Wendy asked.

Jellal sighed, accepting defeat. "Very," He admitted to his daughter. "Especially her hair. It's so mesmerizing."

"You know," Wendy put a finger to her chin. "This reminds me of something." She started, only to cut herself off by seeing scarlet hair in the corner of her eye.

"Here are your drinks," Erza announced, placing the drinks down. "One water and one cherry coke. Are you ready to order your food?" She asked.

Jellal nodded. "Yeah, can I get the penne pasta with chicken, please?" He asked.

Erza nodded, turning to Wendy. "And what would you like?" She asked.

"Can I get chicken tenders?" Wendy asked.

Erza nodded, flashing the two a smile. "I'll be back soon with your orders." She said, leaving the table.

"So, what were you saying earlier?" Jellal asked his daughter.

Wendy raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah," She cleared her throat. "Um…" Her voice trailed off as she pondered how to express her feelings.

"It's okay," Jellal gave Wendy a reassuring smile. "You can tell me."

"Um…" Wendy twiddled her thumbs together. "I…" She squeaked. Wendy squinted her eyes, deciding to just blurt it out. "I want you to get a girlfriend!" She exclaimed.

Jellal blinked, raising an eyebrow at Wendy's statement.

Wendy opened her eyes and panicked when she saw Jellal's confused expression. "It's just that, I want you to be happy. You're always doing stuff for other people; for me, Carla, Aunt Ultear, Meredy, your students, and even for the people at Crime Sorciere!" She explained. "You never make time for yourself, so I thought that maybe having a girlfriend could make you happy."

Jellal's eyebrow lowered as she explained herself.

"Though," Wendy quickly added before Jellal could have a chance to speak. "You don't need a girlfriend to make you happy. You could have a boyfriend! Or you don't even need a significant other! I don't care what you do, I just want you to be happy," She paused, predicting Jellal's next words to be "helping you makes me happy" or something along those lines. "and I also want you to be able to focus on yourself for once." She added as a final note.

Jellal was still for a moment, thinking about her words. Jellal then nodded, smiling at Wendy. "I'll take what you said into consideration." He told her.

Wendy's eyes lit up. "Thank you, dad!"

Jellal shook his head. "No, thank you."

* * *

That night, Jellal laid awake in his bed, unable to sleep. Wendy's words kept racing through his head. "Get a girlfriend, huh?" He asked himself out loud. Wendy's words seemed so implausible to him, but at the same time, they made sense to him in a vague way.

Jellal looked to his side. He had a queen sized bed, which was a perfect fit for the room. When she was little, he and Wendy would have sleepovers in his room. Whenever she had nightmares, or whenever their camping trips got ruined by the rain, they'd always stay in his room.

But now that she was growing, she didn't come back here often. Jellal respected that she needed time alone, but sometimes he couldn't help but feel kind of lonely.

And that's where Wendy's words made sense to him. Maybe he always spent time helping others so that way he wouldn't feel alone, and he just failed to realize his subconscious actions on his own.

Jellal mentally laughed. He never dated anyone before- he never had the time. Even if he did, they'd probably leave him once they learned about his past. And plus, it's not like Jellal knew where to look anyway.

That night, Jellal promised himself one thing. He didn't know much about love, but he knew one thing. If Wendy didn't like his significant other, then he'd have to break up with them. No matter how much it would hurt him, he decided that he'd rather sacrifice his own happiness then make his daughter feel uncomfortable in any way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: Short but still cute chapter today! Only 2.2k words, cause I was really busy yesterday. I volunteered and babysat, and we (my family) had to give away my dog :( It's only been a day, but I really miss him. I also may or may not have taken a two-hour nap today, oops. Shoutout to Juviafullbuster1, Ushindeshi, and kroetzski100 for leaving reviews! Thank you guys so much! To all you readers out there, please review! It would mean the world to me!**

**I've also been working on a Gruvia oneshot that I might post today or tomorrow, so keep your eyes open! It's fluffy and funny, but it's not in this world or the canon world. I'm also going to make an easter oneshot that should be up by easter! It's not in the canon world, or this world either.**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Lucy_

"What an eventful day," Lucy sighed to herself, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. The bathroom was kind of cramped, but Lucy was thankful that there was just enough room for a bathtub.

Turning on the hot water, Lucy stripped off her clothes, setting them neatly into a pile against the tub. Stretching out her arms, she slipped into the tub, letting out another sigh as the hot water touched her skin.

A few things had happened that day, but they were all big things. Sure, Lucy had only known him for a day, but ever since she hung up that phone last night, she couldn't wait to meet him. She had told Gray to send her a picture of him, and to say she was surprised was an understatement.

Natsu wasn't anything like Lucy had imagined, and she liked that a lot. Lucy had expected Natsu to be an average looking guy, with neat hair and a normal smile; so when she saw his messy pink hair and a fanged, toothy smile, Lucy's heart nearly burst out of her chest. She wasn't expecting someone so vibrant and colorful to be the person beyond the phone.

Lucy enjoyed hearing his voice on the phone, but hearing it in person was even better. The way his voice conveyed his emotions with every word made her heart beat harder than normal. Though that wasn't the best part about meeting Natsu. The best part about meeting him in person was to be able to see him in person. The way his onyx eyes shone had sent warmth throughout every inch of her body.

Meeting Natsu was definitely a very good part of her day, to say the least. Another good part of her day was what Levy had told her that night. Levy sounded so happy when she had told Lucy about the start of her and Gajeel's relationship. Her happiness was really contagious, and even Lucy couldn't help but squeal as Levy told her about everything that had happened at the restaurant and on the way back.

After Lucy had taken her time fondly recollecting her memories from the day, she stepped out of the tub, unplugging the drain. Lucy grabbed her towel and dried herself off, wrapping it around her body once she was done. She picked up her dirty clothes and headed back into her room, throwing her clothes into her laundry basket. Lucy went up to her window and pulled the curtain to block her room from view.

Letting her towel drop to the floor, Lucy hummed to herself as she pulled out her pajamas, an old long-sleeved shirt along with some booty shorts, putting them on. She quickly went back into the bathroom, hanging her towel back up and going back into her room. "I'm so tired," She mumbled to herself, opening up her curtains so she could watch the stars. As she laid down on her bed, she stared up at the sky. Despite her arriving at the dorm before it was dark, she and Levy had a very long conversation.

"Hm," Lucy hummed, tilting her head slightly. In the distance, she could see Canis minor. Lucy smiled- Canis minor was her favorite constellation. "Goodnight, Nikora," She mumbled, using the nickname she had given her favorite star when she was little, and then closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Lucy woke up to the sunlight filtering into her room. Today was a day where she didn't have any morning classes, which she was grateful for. Squinting her eyes due to the bright light, Lucy stretched out her arms, hitting something on her bed. She took no notice, turning her body and resting her arms against something soft yet sturdy.

Lucy opened her eyes, blinking away the grogginess to see what she had kept hitting. A scream escaped Lucy's mouth as she scurried off of her bed, grabbing the thing nearest to her, her room key, and holding it up threateningly. "What are you doing here?!" She shrieked.

In her bad, Natsu sat up, rubbing his eyes. "God, Lucy, you're so loud," He complained.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Lucy yelled, still holding the key in her hand.

"Relax," Natsu told her, laying back down. "You can put the key down, I'm not gonna do anything to you."

"Can you just answer my question?!" Lucy huffed, setting her key back down on her nightstand.

"Yeah, sure. I came here because I was bored." He told her.

"How did you even get in here?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Window."

"Well, how did you know it was my room?!"

"I saw you sleeping, silly."

"How did you see me from the third floor?!"

"I climbed."

"ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN?!"

"Haven't we already had this discussion?" Natsu asked, sitting back up again.

"The discussion was about whether or not I was human," Lucy corrected. "But now I see that it should've been about whether or not you were human."

"Look, I woke up at 6 and remembered that apparently, I'm the only one in the world who wakes up at 6." He told her, laying back down. "My sister-in-law wasn't home, and neither was my brother, so I just came here. You were asleep though, and then I got bored waiting, so I fell asleep. End of story."

"Well, normal people knock on the front door before coming into the house." Lucy told him.

"How was I supposed to know which room was yours?!" Natsu asked.

"You could've asked me!" Lucy answered.

"You wouldn't have answered your phone!" Natsu retorted.

"How would you know that?" Lucy shot back.

"Check your phone and find out." Natsu told her.

Lucy hastily grabbed her phone off of her nightstand, her facial features instantly softening. She had received a call from Natsu, a good morning text, another text telling her that he was bored, and then a text that consisted of only a sad face. "Aw, I'm so so-kYAAAA!" Lucy shrieked.

When she had looked up from her phone, Lucy saw a cat on Natsu's lap. "Shhh," Natsu whispered. "You're gonna hurt his ears,"

"Where did this cat come from?!" Lucy cried out.

"I brought him along with me. He's my cat, Happy." Natsu grinned, scratching Happy between his ears. "Come pet him!"

Lucy slowly approached her bed, carefully sitting down on the mattress. "Hey, kitty," She mumbled, reaching her finger out. Happy sniffed her finger before licking it, purring.

Natsu grinned. "I think he likes you!"

Lucy smiled softly at the cat that was now nuzzling against the palm of her hand, purring. "That's good," She scratched Happy's head. "Why did you bring him?" She asked.

Natsu shrugged. "I felt like it." He told Lucy.

"Scoot over," Lucy said. "I'm about to fall off."

Natsu scooted over against the wall, making room for his friend.

Lucy laid down next to Natsu, gently stroking Happy's back. "He's so cute," She smiled at the cat.

"Yeah," Natsu nodded his head in agreement. "But first thing's first," He picked up Happy from off of his shoulder, which earned an adorable pout from Lucy, and put him against the wall. Without warning, Natsu flipped himself so he was on top of Lucy, pinning her down to the bed.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy asked, her face flushing red as she squirmed.

Natsu's onyx eyes bore into her chocolate ones, and for a moment, the air around them was still. Then Natsu spoke. "Do you have any food?" He asked, a goofy grin on his face. "I'm starving!"

With an angry glare on her face, Lucy violently shoved Natsu off of her, turning her head as he plummeted to the floor with a yelp. "You-!" She huffed.

"Hey!" Natsu whined, getting up off of the floor. "That was so uncalled for! I just wanted some food!"

Lucy sighed, getting up off of the bed. "Come with me," She told Natsu, opening her bedroom door. Lucy didn't have to worry about Levy, because the bluenette had a morning class today. Lucy couldn't even begin to imagine how the conversation would've gone if Levy would've been there. "Help yourself," She told the pinkette, leading him into the small kitchen.

Natsu opened the fridge, rummaging through their food. He then opened the freezer, looking around before pulling out a hot pocket. "Hey, where do you store your paper plates?" He asked her.

"You're eating a hot pocket for breakfast?" Lucy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Natsu grinned. "I love hot things as well as spicy things." He told her.

Lucy shrugged, getting a paper plate out of the cabinet. "Here," She said, handing it to him.

Natsu put his hot pocket onto the plate, setting the plate in the microwave and setting the time for 1:30.

Lucy pulled out a water bottle from the fridge. "Do you want some water or something?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll just have water." Natsu answered, staring intently at the microwave.

Lucy pulled out another water bottle for Natsu, setting it on the island. She saw Happy jump up onto the counter, and a thought popped into her mind. "Does Happy need anything?" She asked.

"No, he already ate before we left." Natsu told her. The microwave dinged, and Natsu grinned, taking his hot pocket and sitting down at the island, chowing down on his breakfast.

Lucy sat down next to him, casually eating the cereal that she had poured herself. "Do you always do this?" She asked Natsu.

"Do what?" Natsu asked, tilting his head slightly as his onyx eyes glinted in confusion.

"Break into your friend's houses?" Lucy raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of her water.

"No," Natsu shook his head.

"Then why did y-" Lucy paused when she saw Happy knock over her water bottle, the contents spilling onto the counter. "Happy," Lucy groaned.

"Shoot," Natsu frowned. "Sorry, Lucy." He apologized for his cat's actions.

Lucy and Natsu both reached for the paper towels that were on the counter at the same time, Natsu's hand resting on top of hers.

Lucy blushed at the feel of his rough, calloused yet warm hand against her own. She quickly pulled her hand away, resting it on her lap. "S-sorry," She mumbled, looking down at her lap. She saw that the water was spilling onto her thighs.

Natsu had grabbed some paper towels, wiping up the water that had spilled onto the counter. "Well, at least it's just water, right?" He asked, grabbing some more paper towels.

"Right," Lucy answered, not really paying attention to his words.

Natsu frowned, then smirked as something caught his eye. "Hey, Luce," His voice lowered slightly in pitch. "It seems some of the water spilled onto you. Let me clean it up," He gently placed the towels on Lucy's lap, slowly trailing his hands up and down her thighs.

Lucy's face flushed harder as she watched Natsu tantalize her, slowly rubbing her thighs with the paper towels. Lucy's eye twitched, and without warning, she kicked Natsu square in the face, sending him stumbling onto the floor. "YOU PERV!" She shouted at him.

"Ow," Natsu whined, rubbing his jaw. "That hurt!"

"Well, that's what you get for feeling me up without my permission!" Lucy growled, crossing her arms. When she didn't get a reply, she looked back to see Natsu still rubbing his face in pain.

Lucy's eyes softened. She knew Natsu was smarter than he looked, so he most likely did that on purpose. But she still couldn't help but feel bad for how hard she had kicked him. "Sorry, Natsu," She mumbled. "I'll get you some ice." Lucy got up off of her seat, heading back to the fridge and retrieving an ice pack from the freezer.

"No, I'm sorry," Natsu mumbled.

Lucy smiled, kneeling down and holding the ice pack to his jaw. "It's okay," She told him, resting her free hand on top of his.

Natsu smiled back at her, his black eyes glowing. That look he gave her was all that Lucy could ever ask for from him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Big shoutout to the review squad! Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and LordofAnimeCrap! Thank you guys so much for reviewing, it really means the world to me and inspires me to write. To everyone else out there please read and leave a review!**

_**Trigger Warning: This chapter contains death. Please read with caution.**_

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Erza_

Erza was a working woman. That's how she was raised. Erza couldn't remember most of her childhood, but that's because it was taken away from her. Erza was kidnapped and taken as a slave for a cult called the R-system.

Erza, alongside other children, were often mistreated- Erza even almost lost her right eye. Erza managed to escape with the help of her current adoptive father, Rob.

Rob was a nice old man who cared deeply for the ones he loved. Rob didn't have much money, but he had a heart full of gold. Rob was the one who had taken Erza to fairy tail when she was little, where she had met her best friends, Gray and Natsu.

Rob was the one who raised Erza to be the strong, confident woman she was today. He taught her everything she needed to know about life, and how to handle her problems head-on. He taught Erza that life was far from easy, that she had to work hard for everything she wanted, and that she should be thankful for everything that she had, even if it wasn't much to write home about.

And Erza was thankful for everything she had. She was most thankful for Rob, for always being there for her when she needed the most. Without Rob, Erza didn't know how'd she survive. She was really fortunate to have someone as kind-hearted as Rob in her life.

Unfortunately, Rob was getting more frail as he aged. Erza saw him as her dad, but sometimes she saw herself as his caretaker. Erza didn't mind helping Rob out when he needed it, but she couldn't help but be scared for him. At first,

Sometimes when Erza would come home, she'd find Rob stuck on his bed or even on the floor. Every now and then, Erza worked late shifts at 8 island, so sometimes he'd be stuck for a long time before he got help.

They didn't have enough money to afford someone who could take care of him while Erza was away. Erza had even suggested that she drop out so she could help him. Rob refused her offer, telling her that she should get her degree first.

Erza always came home as soon as possible to make sure Rob was okay. Because of this, Erza never had time for dating. It's not like she was interested in it anyways at the moment. Sometimes, Erza hardly ever had time for herself. She didn't mind in the slightest, though.

Walking home, Erza held her hand out as she felt a cool breeze pass by her. She had a little time to stop by home to check on Rob before she had to go to 8 island. Erza could always ask Yajima, a close friend of her and Rob, to stay if she needed, and he most likely wouldn't mind. Yajima was an old man too, but compared to Rob he was in good shape.

Pulling her keys out of her bag, Erza unlocked the door to the apartment, stepping in. She didn't see or hear anyone. "Dad?" Erza called out.

No response. Erza frowned, opening the bathroom door. "Rob?" She asked again, looking around. He was nowhere in sight.

Erza's eyebrows furrowed; now she was really starting to worry. She walked down the hall that lead to their bedrooms, the silence slowly starting to get to her. Did Rob fall again? Did he hurt himself? Was he perhaps…

Erza violently shook her head, clearing her mind of those previous thoughts. Erza opened the door to his bedroom, sticking her head in. "Rob?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Erza's facial expression softened when she saw the old man sleeping on his bed, letting out a sigh of relief. She slowly walked up to her dad, her footsteps light against the floor. "Hey, dad," She talked to him, resting her hands lightly on the bed. "I'm back."

No response. Erza sighed. "I have to head out though," She told him. "My shift at 8 island starts soon." Erza smiled down Rob, watching as he slept.

After a few seconds, Erza's eyebrows furrowed, the smile disappearing from her face. "Huh," She hummed. "You're not snoring." She commented. Rob normally snored very loudly, but today he was rather quiet.

...Too quiet. "Dad," Erza spoke, putting her hand on his bony arm. It was ice cold and rather stiff. "Dad, wake up," She shook his arm, trying to get any movement out of him.

"Dad," Erza's voice grew louder as her movements became frantic and shaky. Holding his arm, she took her other hand and placed her fingers on his wrist, feeling around for a pulse.

Erza bit her lip, tears springing to her eyes as she moved her hand to his neck in an attempt to find his pulse. "Dad, wake up," She begged, unable to find his pulse. "Dad please," Erza's voice started to choke up as fresh tears sprung from her eyes.

Erza felt her knees buckle from underneath of her, falling to the ground and letting out a loud wail. She buried her face into the mattress next to her dad, slamming her fist onto the bed as her sobs shook her body.

Erza reached into her back pocket, pulling out her phone and raising her head from the mattress. With shaky hands, she dialed emergency services, holding the phone up to her ear as she silently wept.

"Hello, how may I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"M-my dad," Erza choked out, trying hard to regain her breath. "I found him on his bed unmoving. I-i checked for his pulse and tried to wake him up, but he's n-not responding." She told the receptionists in hysterics. "He feels cold and he's stiff a-and-"

"Hey, Honey," The reception cooed. "It's okay. I want you to take deep breaths and calm down, okay sweetie?" She asked, her voice like honey.

"O-okay," Erza nodded, blinking away her tears as she attempted to steady her breathing.

"How old is your dad?" The receptionist asked.

"He just turned 80 a few months ago." Erza answered.

"And how old are you?" The receptionist questioned, keeping her voice slow and quiet.

"23." Erza hiccuped. "He's my adoptive dad, but he-he still means the w-world to me." She told the receptionist.

"Hey, honey, it's okay to cry. I'd be devastated if my dad were to pass- and believe me when I say I'm far behind my glory days." The receptionist told Erza. "Where do you live?" She asked.

Erza hiccuped, telling the receptionist her address as more hot tears streamed down her face.

"Okay, there are people on their way right now," The receptionist assured her. "Do you want me to stay on the line with you?" She asked.

"I-I think I'll be okay," Erza sniffed. "Th-thank you," She thanked the receptionist before hanging up. Erza turned herself so her back was against the mattress. She curled up into a ball, hugging her knees and sobbing onto her skin. Just like that, Rob was gone. She was old enough to know that he wasn't going to wake up anymore- it was his time.

A knocking on the doorframe caused Erza to look up. Standing at the door was a blonde woman who was older than she was, but younger than Rob was. A silent gasp escaped her lips as she saw the scene in front of her.

She said nothing, simply going up to Erza and sitting next to her. Erza had never seen this woman in her life before, but all she knew was that she was grateful for her company. Erza broke down onto the woman's shoulders, who in turn hugged Erza lightly. The two of them sat in silence until the paramedics came.

* * *

Erza hadn't sleep in a day. She hadn't moved in a day, she hadn't eaten in a day. All she did was sit on the chair next to Rob's bed, watching his limp body like a hawk as she looked for any signs of movement.

The doctors had wanted to see if there was any chance of saving him, and they also wanted to find out what had happened to him.

Everything had happened so quickly that Erza was still unable to process what exactly had happened. All she could do was just sit and stare.

Erza heard the door open, followed by footsteps approaching her, but she didn't listen. "Hey," The voice said. Erza looked up, her expression blank. It was the same woman that had found her and her dad from the other day.

She pulled a chair next to Erza and sat down. "How are you doing?"

Erza was silent, turning her gaze onto Rob's pale body.

The woman sighed. "Figures. I'm Belno." She introduced herself.

"Erza." Was all the scarlet-haired woman had said, her voice hoarse.

"I brought you some water." Belno told her, holding out the cup to Erza.

"I'm not thirsty," Erza replied, not taking her eyes off of her dad.

Belno set the water down on the little table. "Look, Erza" Belno started. "I don't know how to tell you this, but-"

"I know." Erza interrupted her. She knew what Belno had to say.

"I understand what you're going through, Erza." Belno told Erza.

"No, you don't." Erza blankly commented.

"I came home to find my son dead on the floor with blood spilling out of his head, trust me when I tell you that I understand what you're feeling." Belno commented. No response. "I'm sorry, Erza." Belno continued, from which she still got no response. "Erza?" She asked.

Erza looked up at Belno, her brown eyes devoid of life. "Why are you here?" She asked, her voice stoic.

"Because no one should be alone," Belno answered, making eye contact with Erza.

Erza was silent for a moment, before a hint of emotion shone in her eyes. "Thank you," She mumbled, the corners of her lips ever so slightly curving up into a smile.

Belno shook her head. "No need to thank me," She told Erza. "Though there is a concern I have to express to you," She admitted.

Erza frowned, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Go ahead," She started.

"Your apartment." Belno told her. "It was being paid for with his retirement money and the money you bring in from jobs. But now, it might be hard to pay for with just one source of income. The apartment market is tight, so it's going to be even harder to find a cheap single bedroom apartment. Assuming you're still in university, the dorms are already full."

Erza's eyebrows furrowed. She was so focused on her dad that she didn't think about her living quarters. "You're right…" She mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"You can live with a friend of mine, if you'd like." Belno offered.

Erza raised one of her eyebrows. "I mean no offense when I say this," She started. "But, why should I trust you?"

Belno smiled. "Does seem kind of sketchy, doesn't it?" She asked. "I apologize if I disturbed you. I'm not sure if this will give me any credibility, but I brought my two kids with me. They're only a year or two younger than you."

As if on cue, a boy and a girl walked into the room. They looked only slightly younger than Erza, the tall man with black messy hair and piercings that were scattered across his body held a card in his hands, and the pale girl with beautiful cerulean waves that complemented her navy eyes holding flowers in her hand. "These are for you," The girl told Erza, handing her the flowers. Her brother also handed her the card.

"Thank yo-" Erza smiled, only for her sentence to be cut off by a hug from the girl.

"I'm sorry," She whispered.

Erza's eyes softened, and she wrapped her arms around the girl. "Thank you," She repeated.

The girl pulled away. "I'm Juvia, and this is Gajeel." She introduced, gesturing to her brother.

"Oh hey," Erza commented. "I know you." She said, looking at Gajeel.

"Hm?" Gajeel hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"I was your waitress when you went on a date with that girl." Erza explained. "How did it go?"

"Gajeel you went on a date and you didn't tell me?!" Juvia exclaimed. "Who did you go with?!" She asked, sending her brother a death glare.

"Relax, it was just Levy." Gajeel reassured her.

"Ooh, you went on a date with Levy~" Juvia cooed.

"It wasn't a date!" Gajeel exclaimed, a tick mark appearing on his head. "We just talked, that's all…" He told the two, his voice trailing off. "Though… Afterward, I did ask her out."

"Did she say yes?" Erza and Juvia exclaimed at the same time, their eyes wide with excitement.

"Yeah," Gajeel smirked. "She did."

"Yay!" Juvia cheered. "About time,"

"Congratulations." Erza smiled.

"Thanks," Gajeel crossed his arms. "Anyways, would you like to hear our part of the story?" He asked, referring to earlier.

"Yes, please." Erza nodded.

Gajeel huffed, clearing his throat. "We live in the same apartment complex as you. Same floor, too. Belno was doing something for work, I was playing with my cat, and Juvia was texting that guy or whatever,"

"His name is Gray," Juvia interjected.

"Wait," Erza interrupted, looking at Juvia. "I apologize for interrupting, but is his last name Fullbuster by any chance?" She asked.

Juvia nodded, blinking. "Yeah," She told Erza. "How did you know?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Erza let out a little chuckle. "I know him," She told Juvia. "We've been friends since we were little. Are you his girlfriend?" She asked.

"No." Gajeel interjected, an annoyed expression on his face.

Erza let out another chuckle at Gajeel's reaction to her question. She turned to Juvia, raising her eyebrow. "Well?" She asked.

"Well, no," Juvia mumbled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Erza frowned. "Oh, that's too bad." She told Juvia, whose face flushed red. "You two would be so cute together."

"Anyways," Gajeel interjected, clearing his throat loudly as he changed the subject. "Back to my story. The three of us heard your scream and we raced over to see what was happening. Belno told us to wait by the door, though, so we did." He explained to her, short and sweet.

"Belno had filled us in on what had happened, and we felt really bad." Juvia continued. "We came here to send our condolences."

Erza's heart was touched at the kindness that these three total strangers had shown her. From the gifts that they gave her to making her laugh a little, she was really thankful that she met the two. "Thank you," She told the two sincerely, starting to tear up.

Juvia frowned. "Please don't cry," She told Erza. "We all want you to be happy. Sure, it might be hard to do that, but we just want the best for you." She admitted.

Erza smiled at the three's intent. From the sincerity in Juvia's voice, the genuine look in Gajeel's eyes, and even the slight smile on Belno's face, she could tell that they mean good. Erza turned to Belno, giving her a nod. "Alright." She told Belno. "I'll live with your friend."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: So the one day my sister wakes up before me she uses all the hot water. Love that :) Big shout out to the review squad (LordOfAnimeCrap, Ushindeshi, and Juviafullbuster1)! I literally love all three of you! To all you readers out there, I love and you too, and I value your opinions; so please leave a review and let me know your thoughts! Also, this chapter is the first to break the order (Lucy, Erza, Gajeel, etc.)! Yay! And don't forget that the Easter story is coming out Sunday!**

**Fun fact: Some of you might not know this, so I'll throw it in, but Belno is an actual character in the anime and manga. She tells Gajeel that he reminds her of her past son. **

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Belno_

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gajeel asked.

"Yeah, you don't have to. She could share a room with me." Juvia offered.

Belno shook her head. "You two are already cramped as it is." She told them. "I believe he is ready, anyways."

The main reason that Belno, Gajeel, and Juvia lived in a small apartment in the city was because Belno was a part of the city council, and had to live close by to the town hall.

Belno was in charge of the corrections department, overseeing criminals, how they behaved before their sentence, how they behave during their sentence, and how they behaved after their sentence. Since Belno was the head of the department, she didn't get just everyday bandits who were charged for speeding or theft.

Her most intriguing criminal that she had got was a mere boy, Jellal Fernandes. Ever since she had heard about his case, she was always on top of it. From when he first became a concern, to his sentence, she had always watched over him.

At first, Belno was exactly like everyone else, seeing Jellal as a cold-hearted serial killer in the makings. But after spending more and more time with him each day, she learned better.

Jellal was just an unlucky kid who had his childhood taken away from him. He was raised, brainwashed almost, to live in a cult and to terminate anyone who got in the cult's path.

But now that Jellal wasn't with the cult anymore, he changed. At first, he was rather antsy. Always on edge and looking around in every direction possible. But as time passed by, Belno saw him calm down- she saw him become the little boy he was at heart.

Belno never saw any signs of malice in Jellal, not even at the start. Hell, Belno was fairly sure he didn't even remember his time in the cult, and that all he knew was that some part of him was wrong. In what way was that fair to him; a boy who knew nothing other than the fact that people didn't like him for reasons unknown to him?

Of course, Belno knew that Jellal was a good person- but she never confirmed her thoughts in front of others. Most everyone who knew of his case feared him, they saw him as a dangerous force to be reckoned with. There was no way that Belno alone would have ever convinced them in the slightest that maybe, just maybe, they were wrong.

Belno only knew two other people who saw Jellal the same way she did. That was Ultear, his lawyer, and Meredy, Ultear's daughter. Even with their help, there was still no way that three women could make a stand in a man's world.

Belno put herself in charge of watching over Jellal when his sentence ended. The people in her department saw her as a brave, fearless leader who sacrificed for her department. Belno found it funny, however; she thought that seeing over Jellal would be exactly the same as seeing over her own kid.

Her own kid. Before she had adopted Gajeel and Juvia, and before she had divorced her ex-husband, Belno had a son. He always wished for an older brother and a little sister, but she was never able to grant his wish since she was always so busy with work.

One day, Belno had left her son at the house to run a quick errand. He was twelve, close to thirteen; surely he wouldn't cause any trouble. When she came back, she had found her son on the floor, blood spilling out of his head. She raced him to the hospital, but he died of blood loss before the paramedics could try to save him.

At his funeral, his wish rang loud and clear inside Belno's mind, and she knew what she had to do. The next day, she went to the adoption center as soon as it was open. Since Belno worked for the corrections department, she decided that she would pick the most troublesome kids.

The workers looked at her as if she had grown two heads, but they introduced her to them nonetheless. Gajeel Redfox, who had been there for a few months, and Juvia Lockser, who had just come in only a week ago. Gajeel's caretaker had suddenly disappeared, and he had no known family. Juvia's caretaker had died recently.

Those two were the most feared in the orphanage. They were always isolated from the other kids, partly because of choice and partly because no one else wanted to associate with them. Gajeel and Juvia had a few encounters with one another before, and they seemed to get along just fine.

That night, Belno had taken the both of them in. It didn't take long for her to get to know them better. Juvia wasn't the girl who everyone made her out to be- they all thought she was mean and weird. Juvia was far from it- she was such a sweetheart, and Belno failed to see how her behaviors came off weird to other people.

Gajeel, on the other hand, was exactly as everyone had made him out to be. Really troublesome, to say the least; always picking fights and doing things he wasn't supposed to. This kid had a habit of eating bolts and screws for god's sake. Despite being 9, he had piercings littered all over his body. Belno didn't question it, however, and just let it be.

If there was one thing Belno knew about gaining a child's respect and trust, it was that you had to show respect and trust to them as well. This wasn't hard for Belno, she simply told them that she'd let them pick out one thing that they wanted. Anything, but they could only pick one thing.

Gajeel and Juvia plotted to surprise Belno, so they thought hard about what Belno wouldn't expect. The next day, they ended up in the pet store. Belno was unfazed, however, which surprised Gajeel and Juvia. All she told them was that she trusted them to be responsible enough to have a pet, and that's all it took for them to like her.

Gajeel got a black tuxedo cat which he named Pantherlily. The cat had a white muzzle and a white spot on his back, and amber eyes. Juvia got a black betta fish with a brilliant blue tail (she made sure that the tank was included along with the decorations since Belno said they could only get one thing). Juvia named the betta fish Teru.

Around the time that she had adopted Gajeel and Juvia was the time that she had started watching Jellal. And like Gajeel and Juvia, Jellal was actually a good kid at heart. It's just everyone was always too quick to judge. Hell, he even had a daughter who was one of the sweetest girls in existence. Surely he had taught her some aspects of that behavior and she didn't just learn on her own.

For months, now, Belno had been trying to get others to see Jellal for the person he was in the present, not for the pawn he was in the past. So far, only a few people have been convinced.

One of those people was Makarov Dreyar, the principal of Magnolia University. Makarov was a kind-hearted, smart old man who always saw the good in other people. He had offered to educate Jellal and had even offered him a job position. Jellal happily agreed.

Despite the kindness that a few people showed him, it was still nothing compared to the vast majority of people who opposed him. Belno knew she had to make him do something to make people see that he was just a normal person. Now, she had an opportunity.

"You kids do whatever," Belno told Gajeel and Juvia. "I have a phone call to make." With that said, she left the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket and making a phone call. The phone rang a few times before the other person picked up.

"Hey, Belno." She heard Jellal's voice from the other side of the line. "How are you doing today?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thank you." Belno answered. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good. Can I help you with something?" He offered.

"Actually, yes." Belno told him. "There is something I'd like to talk to you about,"

"What is it?" Jellal asked.

"It's sort of like a favor," Belno explained. "Just not for me."

"Go on," Jellal urged her to continue.

Belno cleared her throat. "I want you to let a friend of mine live with you for a year at the most," She told him. "She lived with her dad but he passed recently. Now money is tight, and she needs somewhere to stay while she gets back on her feet."

"Hm," Jellal hummed in thought.

"If you have any other concerns, just let me know and I'll take care of it." Belno assured.

The line was silent for a few seconds before Jellal spoke. "Why me?"

"Because, if you do this successfully, which I know you will because it's simple, then maybe the people who know you will start to warm up to you." Silence. "Is there anything else that you'd like to know?" Belno asked.

"Will Wendy like her?" Jellal queried.

Belno smiled. She got him. "I think Wendy will love her." She answered.

"How do you know?"

"I know you, Jellal. I wouldn't be asking if I knew she wouldn't get along with Wendy."

A sigh was heard over the line. "Okay, then. Yeah, she can stay. When will you be bringing her?" He asked.

"Soon," Belno answered. "I'll let you know. Thank you, Jellal."

"No problem. Just tell her she'll have to share a bed with me, is all." Jellal reminded.

"Alright. Tell Wendy I said hi. Goodbye, Jellal." Belno said.

"Goodbye," Jellal replied.

Belno ended the call, looking down at her phone. She couldn't believe Jellal agreed to this.

"So," Gajeel's voice caused Belno to look up. "Did he say yes?" He asked.

Belno nodded. "As I thought he would, yes."

Gajeel nodded. "Why did you ask him?"

"I already told you," Belno started. "To give him a chance at redemption in the eyes of others."

"No," Gajeel shook his head. "There's something else."

"What if there isn't?" Belno raised an eyebrow at her son.

"Then you're just not telling me." Gajeel replied.

"Well, then, I guess I'm not telling you. Don't worry, though," Belno assured him. "It's nothing bad, trust me."

Gajeel snorted, crossing his arms. "Why am I not surprised?" He asked.

Belno smirked. "You oughta know your mom by now, Gajeel; even if I'm not your real mom."

Gajeel simply chuckled. "Guess you're right. I'm gonna leave you to finish sorting all this stuff out, bye mom." He waved, leaving the room.

Belno watched as Gajeel left the room. Making a mental checklist to herself of what she needed to do, she slipped on her shoes, exiting her room and leaving her apartment.

Belno thought it would be a perfect chance for the others to see the true side of Jellal, that was the only reason why she was doing this.

But seeing that he was able to take someone into his house and let them stay for a year was only one of the steppingstones to the other's awakenings.

If the woman who she asked Jellal to take hin got along with Wendy, they'd see that Jellal had a kid (not many people knew of that) and that the kid loved him with all of her heart. They'd also see that Jellal was a good person as well as a good father- after all, how else could a monster raise an angel all on his own?

There was another stepping stone as well, but it was rather smaller than the others. Belno could've easily done this with anyone, true, but she thought that Jellal and Erza would look cute together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: Short filler chapter, I'm really sorry! I was incredibly busy this week- I hardly had any time to write this chapter. I only just started writing it this morning. I'm also so sorry for uploading so late into the night, I still wanted this to be done by today. I'm not sure about the easter chapter, but I'll try and write something. Shout out to Juviafullbuster1, LordOfAnimeCrap, and Guest for leaving a review. Thank you guys so much! I truly appreciate it. To all you other readers out there, please review- it would make my day so much better!**

_**Trigger Warning: Contains mentions of death. Please read with caution.**_

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gray_

"I know you saw that play I did earlier," Lyon boasted.

"Yeah, what was that?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow. The two of them were walking home after a practice session. It wasn't an actual practice session, it was just the two of them playing against one another.

"A 3-turn." Lyon stated proudly.

"Is that one of your figure skating moves?" Gray questioned.

"You know it." Lyon grinned. Lyon couldn't decide if he wanted to do ice hockey or if he wanted to do figure skating, so, for now, he just did both. Though, Lyon was taking more of a liking to figure skating. "It's hard to pull off those moves with these skates."

"You need different skates for figure skating?" Gray asked.

"Yeah," Lyon nodded. "H-" He was cut off by Gray's phone ringing. He gasped. "Is that your girlfriend?" Lyon teased.

"She's not my girlfriend," Gray scolded, pulling his phone out of his pocket and looking at the caller ID. "Though, it is her. Now go away," Gray shooed his brother off with his hand, picking up the phone. "He-"

"Hi, Juvia!" Lyon screamed into the mic.

"Gray?" Juvia asked, uncertainty laced in her words.

"No, I'm his brother, Lyon." Lyon grinned. "It's so nice to meet you, Gray al-"

"Go away!" Gray shouted, shoving Lyon away from the phone.

"Aww," Lyon pouted. "I'll leave you two be. See you later, Gray." He waved, continuing on his path.

"Sorry about that," Gray apologized. "That was my brother, Lyon."

"Well, he seems nice." Juvia commented.

"Kind of annoying," Gray snorted. "But yeah, pretty nice to people other than me."

Juvia giggled. "That's ironic- my brother is the exact opposite of that."

"Figures," Gray mused. "So, everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah- well, for me it is." Juvia told him.

"For you?" Gray queried.

"It's kind of an outlandish story. Do you have time to listen?" Juvia offered. "Well, if you want to, that is." She added.

"Yeah, go on." Gray said.

"Yesterday after I had got back home from my classes, my family heard a loud scream. The person who screamed sounded very distressed over something. We went over to check it out, and it-" Juvia paused. "Sorry, just thinking about it is really sad."

"You're fine," Gray assured her. "You don't have to finish the story if you don't want to."

"No, no, I'll finish it. This really pretty woman was the one who screamed. She had come home to find her father dead in his bed."

"What?" Gray asked, raising his eyebrows. "_Dead?_"

"Yeah," Juvia confirmed. "He was an old man, he probably passed in his sleep. Our mom figured that she was still attending university and that without her dad's retirement money coming in, she probably wouldn't have been able to afford the apartment. The market's really tight, and all the dorms are full, so my mom offered the girl to stay with a friend of hers."

"Well, that's nice of her." Gray commented.

"Yeah. The girl was nice too. She's an upperclassman in the university, and she has this beautiful red hair- it looked so long and silky," Juvia described.

Gray froze, his breath hitching in his throat. It couldn't be… No… "Was… Was her name Erza, by chance?" He asked, biting his lip as he silently prayed.

"Yeah, her name was Erza. Do you know her?"

Juvia's words made Gray's heart drop. As his mind raced, he realized that he hadn't heard from Erza since yesterday afternoon, after classes had ended. "Y-yeah, I've known her since we were little. She's like a sister to me. I hadn't heard from her since yesterday, so I had just presumed that she had got a project from one of her classes and was really determined to finish it- too heavily focused on the task at hand to do anything else because that's simply the kind of person that she is."

"Don't feel bad," It was as if Juvia could sense Gray's distress from over the phone call. "You couldn't have known any better. Erza's with my mom, Belno, at the moment. When she's done then you can call her and send her your condolences, if you'd like."

"Yeah," Gray agreed. "I will."

"Do you want to do something?" Juvia asked. "I can tell you're upset, maybe doing something will help you feel better."

"Yeah, maybe." Gray said. "Where do you want me to meet you?" He asked.

"No, I can meet up with you." Juvia said. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the entrance to the campus." Gray told her.

"Okay, I'll be there soon. Want me to stay on the line with you?" Juvia offered.

"No, there's someone else I need to call. Alongside Erza and I, the three of us have been childhood friends. I think he deserves to know what happened as well." Gray explained.

"Okay. See you later, Gray." There was a beeping noise, signifying the end of the call.

Gray let out a sigh, running his hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself down. With his other hand, he dialed Natsu's number, holding the phone up to his ear as he listened to the dialing.

On the third ring, he heard a click. "Oi," Natsu's boisterous voice boomed over the line. "What up, brain freeze?" He asked his friend.

"I know why we couldn't get a hold of Erza yesterday." Gray told Natsu, straight to the point.

"Huh? Why?" Natsu asked.

"Her father passed away." Was all that Gray had said.

There was silence on the other line for about a minute, before Gray heard Natsu clear his throat. "No way," He breathed, the silliness in his voice replaced for a more serious tone.

"My friend told me that she heard a scream on the apartment floor- it was Erza. She had come home to see her dad laying in bed already half-dead." Gray elaborated.

"We have to see how she's doing," Natsu insisted.

"She's busy at the moment. My friend told me. Once she's done though then we can talk with her." Gray explained.

"Okay, but as soon as she's done." Natsu said, his voice solid.

"Yes, as soon as she's done." Gray repeated. "I want to talk to her too." He admitted. "I think it's safe to say that she's probably devastated."

"No kidding," Natsu sighed. "Look, I gotta finish this up. Just, give me a call when we can talk to her, okay?" He asked.

"Okay, bye Natsu." Gray bid his friend farewell before hanging up. He looked up at the bright blue sky which was a rather heavy contrast against his current mood. A blank expression was written all over his face as he thought for a second.

"What did he say?" A voice snapped Gray out of his trance, looking up at the source. It was Juvia, standing next to him with a hand on his shoulder.

"He wants to speak to her as well." Gray told Juvia.

"Well, that makes sense." Juvia nodded. "Do you want to just walk around? Erza and Belno might take a while, so we could do something too other than just roaming around the city."

Gray shrugged. "Let's just walk around for now, I guess."

Juvia smiled at Gray. "Okay! Let's go, then."

Gray couldn't help but give Juvia a small smile in return as they walked alongside one another in the city.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: I am really truly sorry about the Easter story. I had some good ideas, and I tried my best while writing it, but it just didn't turn out good. I never really celebrated Easter, so I just couldn't find the motivation to write it. I didn't want to publish something that I wasn't proud of. Also, sorry for the rather late update (though, compared to last chapter, I'd say this one is rather early), I may or may not have been watching my favorite youtuber play Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney. Shout out to Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and Guest for reviewing!**

**Reply to Guest: No, there's no daily updates. There _are _updates every _other _day, however. (I might have to change that cause exams are coming up! Oops!)**

**Speaking of updates, I don't know what time it was for you guys but I published the last chapter at exactly 11:59 PM XD I'm so sorry about that! Thank you for sticking with me though! I love you guys! I'll try to make the next chapter be long enough to bump this story up to 40k+ words! (Which means the chapter will be at least 4k words!)**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Jellal_

Jellal couldn't quite process the situation at hand. Only just yesterday had Belno called him and asked him for a favor. Yes, he had agreed, but he only agreed to let the person stay. There's a difference between inviting someone to stay at the place where you eat and sleep and inviting someone to stay at the place you call home.

What made matters worse was that Jellal was unsure of how Wendy would react to this. Sure, she was always really nice and supportive, but he wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't all that thrilled to find out that a random stranger was going to stay with them.

A random stranger. Neither Wendy nor Jellal knew this person. Sure, they could know the person, but there was just as great a chance that this person was a stranger to both daughter and father. Jellal trusted Belno and her judgement, but who he didn't trust was the newcomer.

"Dad," Wendy's voice broke Jellal out of his train of thought.

"Hm?" Jellal hummed.

"You've been pacing around the living room for ten minutes, are you okay?" Wendy asked.

Surely enough, he was still pacing as she had said. Jellal stopped dead in his tracks, running a hand through his blue locks. "Are you okay?" He asked, looking at his daughter.

Wendy nodded. "Yeah," She told him honestly. "I think it'll be fun to get to know this person. And besides, if worse comes to worst, then I know how to defend myself!"

"You do?" Jellal raised an eyebrow in skepticism.

"Y-you don't believe me?" Wendy asked, starting to tear up.

"N-no!" Jellal exclaimed. "I do believe you. I just didn't know you knew how."

"Then let me show you!" Wendy beamed. "Pretend like you're going to attack me."

Jellal stood in place, blinking.

"Come on," Wendy urged.

Jellal placed a finger on Wendy's shoulder. "Give me all of you-"

Wendy kicked Jellal square in the gut, instantly cutting off his sentence. Jellal stumbled back, clutching his stomach as he tried to regain the breath that had been stolen from him. "N-nice kick," He groaned.

"Oh my god!" Wendy squeaked, instantly rushing to her dad's side. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry! I didn't think it would hurt that much because I'm just-"

"Never." Jellal started, cutting off Wendy. "Apologize to an attacker. When he is too stunned to attack back, you take the opportunity to run." He told her.

Wendy nodded. "O-okay! Thank you!"

Jellal smiled. "Where did you learn that?" He asked.

"Um," Wendy mumbled, her answer incoherent.

"Hm? I didn't catch that." Jellal looked at Wendy expectantly.

"I learned it from Drascle." Was all Wendy told him.

"That anime that you like to watch?" Jellal questioned.

Wendy nodded.

"Impressive." Jellal remarked. "Maybe I'll have to watch that with you sometime."

"R-really?" Wendy asked, a giddy smile gracing her features.

"Yeah, sure." Jellal shrugged. Just then, they heard the doorbell ring. "That must be Belno and the newcomer." He concluded. "You want to come to the door with me or wait here?"

"Um, I'll stick with the latter," Wendy told him, going over to the sofa and taking a seat. She grabbed her book off of the coffee table and opened to her bookmark, starting on a new chapter.

Jellal went to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. There stood Belno, and right next to Belno stood none other than the student which he had kept running into.

"Erza?" Jellal asked.

"Jellal?" Erza asked.

Belno chuckled. "It seems as if you two already know each other, hm?"

Erza and Jellal looked at Belno. Neither of them had the heart to tell her that they were teacher and student and that it was more than likely going to be a little awkward at first. "Yeah," Was all that Jellal told Belno. "Come in, you two." He offered, stepping aside.

Wendy glanced up from her book, looking at the two women who had entered the house from the corner of her eyes, which had widened in delight. "Erza!" She cheered, dropping her book onto the table. Wendy ran up to Erza, giving her a hug.

Erza let out a small laugh, lightly hugging the teen. "Hi, Wendy." She greeted.

"I apologize for such short notice," Belno told Jellal.

"No," Jellal shook his head. "Given the circumstances, it's okay."

Belno smiled at Jellal. "If only the world could see you through my eyes, son." She rested her hand on Jellal's shoulder.

Jellal smiled back at Belno. "If only," He mused.

"I have some business I need to attend to," Belno sighed, taking her hand away. "I trust that you and Erza will get along. I trust that Wendy and Erza will get along, too." She gestured to the two girls who were currently talking to one another.

Jellal nodded. "Alright,"

"If you need anything, feel free to contact me." Belno offered. "We're looking for a place for her to live, so as soon as we find one that's good for her then she'll take her leave."

"You can take your time. I know it's hard to find cheap single-person apartments at the moment. As long as Wendy's okay I don't really mind how long she stays." Jellal informed her.

Belno nodded. "Thank you for your understanding." She went up to Erza, talking to her one more time before taking her leave.

"Did you know that it was gonna be her?" Wendy asked, going up to Jellal.

Jellal shook his head. "No idea."

Jellal was going to be living with his student. A student was going to be living with him. Jellal found it rather weird, and he assumed that Erza probably felt that same as well. Especially at night- Jellal had a rather small two-story house, so he and Erza would have to sleep together on the same bed. He didn't really want to break the fourth wall, but he didn't mean it in the way that all of you dirty readers are probably thinking of.

The two had their backs facing each other, none of them saying a word. Jellal was unsure if Erza was even asleep, but he felt like he wasn't going to get a blink of sleep anytime soon. Instead, he laid there staring blankly at the wall, his mind racing.

Minutes that had felt like hours passed by the two, when the silence between them was finally broken by a soft voice that was so quiet that he almost didn't catch it. "Are you awake?" Erza asked, her voice trembling.

"Yeah," Jellal answered, his voice a whisper. "I'm still awake."

The silence was back again, as Jellal expected, but it felt a little less thick then it had before. The air between them was tense, neither one of them wanted to move- Jellal hated how awkward everything was.

But Jellal wasn't just gonna kick her out. Erza needed him. She had no one else anymore. Jellal knew how that felt. Just then, he heard something.

It sounded almost like… a sniffle? "Erza?" Jellal asked. No response, but another sniffle was heard. Jellal sat up, turning on the lamp beside him and looking at Erza. Her back was still facing him, so he couldn't see her face. "Erza?" He repeated, his voice soft and slow.

"S-sorry," Erza apologized, her voice really quiet.

Jellal blinked. "Why are you apologizing?" He asked her, voicing his thoughts.

"I-it's just that," Erza stopped her sentence, a small whimper escaping her lips.

"Hey," Jellal gently placed a hand on Erza's shoulder. Underneath the soft fabric of her pajamas, he could feel her body tremble.

Erza sat up, looking at Jellal. Her red locks had fallen over her face, but he could still see her grief-stricken brown eyes and her tear-stained face in the dim moonlight. Without warning, Erza had collapsed onto him, her arms wrapped around his shoulders for support as she cried onto his shirt.

Jellal's body softened, gingerly wrapping his arms around the broken girl. He closed his eyes, holding her close to him as he let her cry onto him. Jellal inhaled and exhaled softly, catching a whiff of her strawberry shampoo. The silence between them had shifted from a tense and uncomfortable silence to one of understanding and comfort.

The two had stayed there for a few minutes. Erza's crying had stopped, but her body was still shaking ever so slightly in his embrace. She mumbled something incoherent into his old shirt. "Hm?" Jellal hummed.

Erza pulled her head away from his shirt, looking up at Jellal with teary eyes. "I'm s-"

"Don't apologize." Jellal interrupted, shaking his head. "Don't apologize for missing the last two days, don't apologize for breaking down, don't apologize for any of it." He told her. "It's okay," Jellal assured her.

Erza smiled at him. "Thank you," She mumbled. The two looked at each other, their faces inches apart. Realization striking them, they both pulled away from each other, not making eye contact with one another. "S-" Erza bit her lip. Jellal had just told her not to apologize.

The awkward silence was back in the blink of an eye. But at least it wasn't uncomfortable. "Do you feel a little better now?" Jellal asked.

"A little," Erza confirmed. "I don't think I'll ever be the same."

"That's understandable." Jellal commented.

"Have you lost a loved one before?" Erza asked, looking at him from the corner of her eyes.

Jellal shook his head. "Not exactly." He told her. "But if I were to lose Wendy, I think I'd never be the same."

Erza sighed, smiling a sad smile at Jellal. "Loss is rather hard."

Jellal looked at her, a small smile on his face. "I'll take your word on it."

Erza flopped back down onto the bed, running a hand through her silky smooth hair. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep at night."

Jellal chuckled, laying down on the bed as well. "Tell me about it,"

And so, the two of them stayed up that night. They conversed with one another, watched a little bit of TV (Jellal had discovered that Erza enjoyed Cake Wars a lot, which he found rather amusing and kind of cute), and eventually ended up falling asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: Woo! New Chapter! I didn't get it to 4k words but I got it high enough to get this story to 40k words! (I did the math lol) Woohoo! Shoutout to LordofAnimeCrap and Juviafullbuster1 for reviewing! Thank you so much! To all you readers out there, please review! It would mean the world to me! Just a head's up, I have a chorus concert tomorrow (wish me luck please!), and I don't have an idea for the next chapter (oops!) so it might be a little short. Sorry!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Juvia_

"Where are we?" Gray asked. The two of them had stopped in front of a tall building.

"My apartment complex." Juvia told him, entering the building with Gray following closely behind her. "There's someone I want you to meet."

"Who is this person?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow as they stepped into the elevator.

"Well, they're not exactly a person," Juvia told Gray, a smile on her face. The elevator dinged, and the door opened. Gray and Juvia stepped out of the elevator, walking down the corridor before they stopped at a door.

"Is this your place?" Gray asked as he watched Juvia rummage her windbreaker pocket for something.

"Yep!" Juvia pulled out a key, unlocking the door and opening it. "Come in," She told him, stepping inside the apartment.

There was a door to the immediate right, but the living room and kitchen were rather open, they could both be seen by the entrance. There was a door that led to a balcony, and to the left of them, there was a hallway. Juvia led them down the hall. There was one door on the left, two doors on the right, and a closet at the end of the hall. Juvia went up to the second door on the right and opened it. "Close your eyes," She instructed.

Gray closed his eyes, trusting Juvia not to make him hit a wall. She moved him so he was right in front of the door. "Move forward." He took a few steps forward before he felt a hand on his shoulder that turned him to the right. "Open!" Juvia cheered.

Gray opened his eyes to see a beautiful fish tank stand in front of him. It was rather big, with little caves and lots of plants. There was a blue UV light shining down on one of the caves. Gray didn't see any fish though. "Nice tank," He commented. "But, I don't see-"

Juvia went up to the tank, tapping the corner of the glass twice with her finger and once with her nail. In an instant, a beautiful black betta fish with a glimmering blue tail swam out from underneath the cave with the blue light, gracefully making its way up to Juvia.

"Gray," Juvia stepped aside from the tank. "Meet Teru!"

Gray looked at the Betta fish. "Hi, Teru." He greeted. The fish stared at him for a few seconds before hiding in one of the plants. "Aww," Gray frowned.

Juvia laughed. "Aww, I think he's scared of you."

Gray turned to Juvia furrowing his eyebrows. "I'm not scary!" He protested.

Juvia shrugged, sitting down on her bed. "You don't know how Teru feels about that." She told him, holding back laughter.

"Hey!" Gray exclaimed. Juvia burst out into a fit of giggles. Just then, a flash of black appeared before Gray. In the blink of an eye, there was a cat on Juvia's lap. "...What?" He asked.

"Oh, this is Gajeel's cat, Pantherlily." Juvia introduced the tuxedo cat. The tuxedo cat glared at Gray.

"Why does he have that scar?" Gray asked, looking at the cat.

"Not sure," Juvia shrugged. "A fight or something?"

Lily climbed off of Juvia's lap, stalking over to the edge of the bed. He stared at Gray for a few seconds before he lowered himself down to the bed. "Uh… Should I be concerned?" Gray asked.

"No," Juvia shook her head. She saw Lily start to shake his rear as he stretched out his front paws. "Maybe," She quickly added.

"Maybe?" Gray asked. Without warning, Lily jumped at Gray, letting out a sharp hiss. Gray yelped, the cat digging his claws into his skin.

"Lily, no!" Juvia yelled in shock, getting up from the bed. She ripped Lily from Gray, throwing him to the floor. "Are you okay?" She asked, looking at Gray.

There were multiple scratches on Gray's face, some of which were bleeding. "I'll be fine," He told her. He then winced in pain. "I can understand why he got that scar now," He mumbled.

"Gray, you're bleeding!" Juvia frowned, caressing his face as she looked at the numerous cuts on his skin. There were small scratches on his jawline and chin, and on his forehead lay a scar far bigger than the others were which was partially covered by his hair.

"I think I'll live." Gray shrugged, secretly enjoying the attention he was receiving.

"But you don't know where that cat's claws have been!" Juvia protested. "Come," She grabbed Gray's hand, taking him to the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet, searching for a first-aid kit.

Gray sat down on the edge of the tub, watching as Juvia pulled out a little kit. "Are you becoming a doctor or something?" He asked. Gray closed his eye, feeling some blood from the scratch on his forehead drip down towards his eye.

Juvia shook her head, kneeling down on the cold bathroom floor next to Gray and opening the kit. "No, I'm actually becoming a marine biologist." She told him. "This might hurt a bit," She warned him, taking out some cotton balls and disinfectant. She put the disinfectant on a cotton ball and rubbed his cuts.

The disinfectant on the smaller cuts stung only a little, not enough to get a reaction out of Gray. When the disinfectant touched the scratch on his forehead, Gray winced, gritting his teeth. "Huh," Juvia mused, looking at the cut. "This one's far deeper and much bigger compared to the other cuts." She commented.

"How did Lily pull that off?" Gray asked, furrowing his eyebrows as Juvia continued to clean the cut.

"I'm not sure," Juvia told Gray. "This could possibly leave a scar."

"Really?" Gray asked.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah, possibly." She tossed the bloody cotton ball into the trash, pulling out a packet of bandaids from the first aid kit. "I think the only one that needs a band-aid is that one on your forehead," Juvia concluded, taking one band-aid from the pack and putting it on the cut atop Gray's forehead.

"Are you done?" Gray asked, watching as Juvia closed the kit.

"Not necessarily," Juvia said, getting up and putting the kit back into the medicine cabinet. She grabbed a washcloth and wet it. "I just need to clean up that blood from your face." She kneeled down in front of Gray, leaning forward and grabbing his chin with her thumb and forefinger as she carefully rubbed the cloth across his face.

Gray bit his lip, watching Juvia as she cleaned his face. He felt heat start to rush to his cheeks as he observed the girl in front of him. Gray found it rather cute to see her eyebrows furrow and her eyes squint as she focused on the task at hand. The way her cerulean waves fell around her face and cascaded down her shoulders, resting atop her-

"All done!" Gray's eyes widened as Juvia's voice snapped him out of his voice. He opened his left eye, seeing the brilliant smile that graced her features. That vibrant smile was his favorite thing about her.

"Thank you." Gray nodded at her. "Also, about what you said earlier, you're a marine biology major?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Juvia nodded. "I love marine life!" She beamed, her cheeks pink. "I love everything about water, actually- especially the ocean. There are so many things down there that have yet to be discovered- it's like an entire world is down there waiting for us!"

Gray smiled at her enthusiasm. "That's nice. But, if you're a marine bio major, then how did you know about all of this?" He asked.

"When we were little, Gajeel got into a lot of fights. Belno would usually fix him up but sometimes I did." Juvia informed Gray.

"That's it?" Gray asked.

"Yeah," Juvia nodded, hesitating slightly.

"You hesitated." Gray pointed out.

"Fine," Juvia sighed. "When I was little, I got into my fair share of fights as well." Juvia admitted.

"No way, really?" Gray asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah. Gajeel was my only friend for a while, so I guess that I kind of took after him."

"You seem like the kind of person who wouldn't lay a finger on anyone." Gray told her.

Juvia laughed. "Well, tell that to younger me and she would've found that funny. What's your major?" She asked.

"Engineering," Gray answered. When I was little, my brother and I would always make things out of the snow. It kind of came naturally to me, so it was rather obvious when I picked my major."

"You mean Lyon?" Juvia asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah. He's a sports major, and I'm a sports minor."

"What sport?" Juvia questioned.

"Ice Hockey," Gray informed her.

Juvia blinked. He didn't seem like the hockey type to her. "Ice Hockey?"

"Yes, Ice Hockey." Gray nodded. "In fact, that's why I was at the university. I was practicing ice hockey with Leon." He explained. "We're on the team."

Juvia blinked. "There's a team?" She questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Gray laughed. "You didn't know that?" He asked.

Juvia shook her head. "No. I didn't even know there was a rink." She admitted.

"Well, do you know how to ice skate?" Gray asked.

Juvia shook her head. "I never learned." She told him.

"Do you want to learn how?" Gray grinned.

"Not really," Juvia mumbled, shaking her head.

"Why not?" He asked.

"What if I fall?" Juvia replied.

"Aw, come on!" Gray encouraged. "It'll be fun! Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall."

Juvia sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."

Gray beamed, grabbing Juvia's hand and leaving the bathroom, exiting the apartment and heading to the elevator. "I promise, once you get the hang of it it'll be as easy as walking." He told her, entering the elevator with her.

"But you always fall when first learning how to walk." Juvia pointed out. "You always fall a lot."

"Look at you now, though!" Gray exclaimed, stepping out of the elevator with Juvia. "You walk perfectly fine!"

Juvia sighed, smiling regardlessly. "I'm not going to win this until I try, am I?" She asked.

Gray shook his head. "Probably not."

"Well, your enthusiasm is cute." Juvia winked.

"I am not cute," Gray protested.

"Yes you are," Juvia cooed, pinching his cheek and holding back a giggle.

"No, I'm not," He mumbled, his voice messed up by his pulled cheek.

"Yes, you are~" Juvia sang.

Gray took Juvia's hand and pulled it away from his cheek. A smirk crossed his face as he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I think you're cute," He challenged.

A blush instantly lit up Juvia's cheeks. She opened her mouth to protest, only to close it again due to a loss for words.

"Speechless, huh?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow. "How adorable." He mused.

Juvia pouted, saying nothing. She moved their hands from near his face to their sides, holding hands with Gray as the two of them walked happily to the campus. It was only a few minutes long before they arrived, entering the rink and heading to the locker room.

"What size shoe are you?" Gray asked.

"I'm a size seven." Juvia told him.

Gray opened the storage room, heading in for a few seconds before coming back out with a cardboard box. "Here you go," He placed the box in her hands.

Juvia sat down on a nearby bench, taking off her shoes and putting on the new ones. They were blue with white laces. "Uh, how do I stand?" She asked, looking at the bladed shoes.

"Just stand," Gray told her. "Are they on tight?" He asked.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah, but, I'm kinda scared…" She mumbled.

"Would you like to see me walk in them?" Gray offered.

Juvia smiled. "Yeah, sure."

Gray disappeared behind a wall of lockers and came back a minute later, shoes in hand. He sat down next to Juvia on the bench, putting on the skates. With ease, he got up, walking in front of her as if he were barefoot. "See? It's pretty easy!"

"Yeah, but that's because you've been doing this for…" Juvia paused mid-sentence. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Can't remember," Gray shrugged. "Just try it, it's not that hard!"

"Fine, but… could you help me get up?" Juvia asked, her voice timid.

Gray smiled, taking her hands in his. "Come on, get up."

Juvia frowned. "Now I'm really scared…" She mumbled.

"One," Gray said.

"Huh?" Juvia tilted her head in confusion.

"Two," He continued.

Juvia blinked. What was Gray saying? Was he...

"Three,"

"No, wait!" Juvia shouted, but she was too late. Gray had pulled her up from the bench. Juvia's feet wobbled slightly as her grip on Gray's hands tightened. She moved one of her hands to his shoulder for more support. "This feels weird…" She mumbled, her body shaking from lack of balance and fear.

"That's normal," Gray moved his free hand to her waist, eliciting a blush from the blue-haired woman. "Try walking."

"N-no!" Juvia exclaimed, shaking her head.

"I'll walk with you, don't worry." Gray assured her, giving her a smile. Juvia gulped nervously, keeping her eyes glued to her feet as she took a small step forward. "There you go!" Gray encouraged her. "It's like dancing, just follow my lead." He informed her.

With each step Gray took, Juvia followed. Their steps started out small, like baby steps, until they slowly started to transition into normal steps. The two of them circled around the locker room as if they were waltzing with one another. "Juvia," Gray grabbed her chin, pulling up her head so her eyes looked into his dark blue, almost black, ones. "You can't keep looking at your feet forever."

"O-okay," Juvia squeaked, her cheeks heating up.

"You think you're ready to walk by yourself?" Gray asked.

"No?" Juvia answered, though it came out as more of a question. While she didn't feel ready to walk by herself, she just didn't want to let go of Gray. Not yet.

"Good," Gray answered, slowly releasing her and stepping aside.

"Gray!" Juvia complained, a twinge of anger in her voice.

"Gotta catch me first," Gray winked, walking painfully slow towards his locker to get his skates.

Juvia furrowed her eyebrows in a mix of determination to catch Gray and to learn how to walk in the skates. Hesitantly, she took a step forward, trying her best to balance her weight to the middle of her foot. She then took another step, keeping her hands out to help her maintain balance. A big smile broke out onto her face as she took yet another step. "I think I'm doing it," She said.

"You're doing great!" Gray threw a thumbs up at Juvia. "Keep it up!"

Juvia walked around the opening in the locker room where she and Gray were previously dancing. It was surprisingly easy to walk in skates.

"You ready to go?" Gray asked. He had his skates on and was waiting at the doorway.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah!" She smiled, following him out of the locker room and to the rink. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the ice, her previous fear coming back to her as if it were a tidal wave heading straight towards her.

"You coming?" Gray asked, stepping onto the rink.

"Um," Juvia mumbled, staring at the ice with wide eyes. "Eventually…"

Gray laughed slightly. "Come on," He held out his hand to her. "This time I won't let you go until you say you're ready."

"Promise?" Juvia asked, slowly moving her eyes from the ice to Gray's soft eyes.

Gray nodded. "Promise."

Juvia gulped, sending a silent prayer to anyone who was willing to listen to her before grabbing Gray's hand, stepping onto the ice. "I think I'm gonna fall I think I'm gonna fall I think I'm g-"

"Relax," Gray rested her hand on his shoulder so she could regain her balance. "We haven't even moved yet."

"Dear god," Juvia mumbled, feeling quaint.

"Hey, it's okay," Gray reassured Juvia. "I'm gonna start moving, okay?" He asked. "If you want to stop then just turn one of your feet."

Juvia nodded, gripping Gray's shoulder tightly. He started moving backward, and the second she moved slightly she turned her foot to the side, stopping the two. "Juvia, we just started." Gray informed her.

"S-sorry…" Juvia mumbled. "I'll try not to do that."

Gray slowly moved backward, making sure not to make any sudden movements. Juvia moved her other hand to hold onto Gray's shoulder, her breath hitching in her throat as Gray wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm gonna go a little faster, okay?" Gray asked.

Juvia nodded hesitantly, taking a deep breath as Gray sped up. He turned to avoid running into the rink walls, and Juvia's skate accidentally hit Gray's. She yelped and closed her eyes as she tripped, sending both of them crashing down to the floor in the blink of an eye.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that she was lying on top of Gray. She moved her hand only to freeze up when she felt his toned muscles through his shirt. A blush instantly made way to Juvia's face like wildfire, and she shot up, her hands on either side of his head as she was still sitting on him.

"Ow," Gray mumbled, rubbing his head. "That escalated quickly." He looked up at Juvia, a smile on his face. "You okay?" He asked.

"Y-yes!" Juvia squeaked. "I-I'm so sorry!" She apologized, her voice shaky.

"It's okay, it's natural to fall a few times when first learning how to ice skate." Gray informed her. "And besides," He added, slowly sitting up. He slinked his arms around her waist, leaning his head close to hers. "I think you did pretty good," He whispered.

Juvia moved one of her hands from the ice to rest on Gray's shoulder. "Gray…" She breathed, her voice soft. She slowly moved her lips closer to his, tilting her head to the side as her eyelids started to close, when suddenly.

"Tsk, tsk," A third voice made Gray and Juvia jump, their eyes widening. Juvia scrambled off of Gray, letting out a yelp as she felt her body move against the ice. The two looked up to see a man around their age shaking his head in disapproval as he skated in circles around the two. "Haven't you two head about getting a room?" He asked, doing a scratch spin and stopping in front of the two.

"Way to ruin the moment," Gray hissed, a scowl on his face.

"My my," Lyon mused, looking at Gray's face. "What do we have here? That's a lot of scratches." He commented, a smirk making it's way to his face. "You got some scratches on your back too?" He asked.

"Shut up," Gray growled.

Juvia looked between the two, blinking in confusion. "Um…" She mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh, pardon me." Lyon turned to Juvia, smiling apologetically at the girl. "I'm Lyon, Gray's brother." He introduced himself. "You must be Juvia, no?" He asked.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah," She confirmed his suspicions. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Lyon smiled. His face lit up. "Oh, Gray would just not shut up about you- not like he shuts up anyw-"

"I hope you realize that I'm right here!" Gray protested, getting up from the floor. "And I only mentioned her like, once!"

"Yeah, once every minute," Lyon snickered.

Gray chased after Lyon, who did a 3 turn and dodged. "Gotta be quicker than that~" He teased, doing a scratch spin before skating off with Gray hot on his trail.

Juvia laughed, watching the two brothers as they bickered and chased one another across the ice. Lyon was graceful in his movements, his words clever and his voice smooth like silk. Gray, on the other hand, was more rough with his movements, barking at his brother with a glare that had the intent to kill on his face. Both of them were rather different from one another, yet Juvia couldn't see such a better pair of brothers standing before her. Now, if only she could get off of the ice...


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! Yesterday I had my final chorus concert for the year, which went wonderfully (my dad got me a bouquet! :D)! They had a senior appreciation thing which was actually kind of sad but really sweet. Today is prom night, too. I'm not going, but my sister went with her boyfriend, and I kind of cried a little seeing her. She looked so pretty! I hope she's having fun right now. In summary, it's been a busy, but still good, two days. I wrote this chapter rather slowly, mainly because I did a little research (and also because I felt like taking my time), so that's why it's being posted a little late. **

**Shout out to the review squad: LordofAnimeCrap, Ushindeshi, and Juviafullbuster1 for reviewing! Thank you three so much! You guys are a big source of my motivation! To all you other readers out there, please leave a review! It can be anything, I don't care. Just hearing your opinion would make me so happy! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gajeel_

With Belno helping Erza, and Juvia bringing her boyfriend over, Gajeel had decided to go visit Levy. He thought it would be best to leave the house to Juvia, and it's not like Gajeel minded- he was hoping to get some fresh air anyway. As he was walking down the sidewalk, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

"Hm?" Gajeel hummed. He stopped, looking at the store window in thought. The item that had caught his attention looked rather familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it from. As he racked his mind for answers, he heard some people passing by laugh at him.

Gajeel turned his head in the blink of an eye, a nasty snarl marring his features. One of the kids that was laughing stopped instantly, their skin paling and their eyes widening in fear before they took off running. The other, confused, looked in the direction the kid ran.

"You got a problem?" Gajeel asked, now standing in front of the kid.

The kid looked up at Gajeel, smirking. "I think you got a problem- only _little bitches_ look at things like those."

"Well listen, _little bitch_," Gajeel copied the kid's vulgar word choice. "I was thinking of getting one for my girlfriend, something which you've probably never had." He told the kid, his voice low.

"Wow, what an old geezer." The kid scoffed. "I have _two_ girlfriends."

"Have or had?" Gajeel asked.

"Have, dumbass." The kid laughed.

Gajeel shook his head. "You should be ashamed at your act of infidelity."

"What? Speak English, gramps." The kid rolled his eyes.

Gajeel cracked his neck. "Listen up, asswipe, having two girlfriends makes you a little bitch. Understand?"

The kid laughed. "No it doesn't! What kind of era are you living in? One where piercings are given for free?" He mocked.

A sinister smile appeared on Gajeel's face. He closed his eyes. "Wanna know what these piercings are for?"

"Decoration?" The kid asked, scoffing.

Gajeel suddenly opened his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "I have a piercing for every person I've killed." He told the kid, his voice dangerously low. "And I think I have room for one more on my face. Want to find out?" He asked.

The kid gulped, frozen in place. "N-n-no," He stammered, his eyes wide in terror as tremors shook his body.

Gajeel bent down so he was face to face with the kid. "Then I advise that you_ scram_!" At the last word that he had said, Gajeel's voice suddenly increased as he jolted forward.

The kid cried out, turning around and taking off. Gajeel scoffed, crossing his arms as he watched the kid run off after his friend. "All bark and no bite," He mumbled. Gajeel had no intention of hurting the kid, but he figured that it would get him to leave him alone, and maybe teach him a thing or two about making fun of random people. Not that he wanted to sound old, but kids these days were pretty damn rude.

Gajeel turned around, looking at the store window. After a few moments, Gajeel shrugged, entering the store.

In the store, there were a few people scattered here and there. Some were looking at vases, others were looking at brilliant flowers. Gajeel went up to the display that had caught his attention, getting a closer look at the flowers. They were small flowers with dazzling orange petals, but there was a lot of them. In front of the vase that the flowers were held in was a card. It contained the name of the flowers, orange diascias, and a little bit of info on the flower.

"Those flowers sure are pretty, aren't they?" A voice asked.

Gajeel looked behind him to see a woman with a smile on her face that was as big as the coily brown afro atop her head. "Yeah," Gajeel nodded. He noticed that the woman had patches of lighter skin scattered randomly across her face and arms, but knew better than to comment.

"That's the monthly special. If you buy a bouquet it comes with a vase and a matching ribbon." She told him.

Gajeel nodded. "I was looking to get a bouquet anyways." He told her, not really paying attention to what she had said. He was trying to remember where he had seen those flowers before.

The woman nodded, heading over to the display shelf in front of the window and unlocking it, pulling out a plain clear vase and an orange ribbon. "Pick your bouquet," She told Gajeel. "I'll be waiting for you at the register." With that, she headed off to the cash register.

Gajeel looked at the bouquets, thinking for a moment before picking a bouquet at the very front. Checking to make sure there was nothing bad about the flowers, he was unable to find anything wrong and headed to the cash register. He paid for the bouquet and then put it in his duffel bag alongside the carefully wrapped vase.

"Thanks for shopping here, have a good day!" The woman cheerily told him, waving goodbye.

"You too," Gajeel said, leaving the shop. As Gajeel was walking towards the university campus, a thought occurred in his mind. "So that's where I've seen them before…" He hummed to himself, remembering where he last saw the orange diascias.

It didn't take long before Gajeel had entered the campus, heading to the dorm building and then making his way to Levy and Lucy's room. Once he arrived, he raised his hand to knock, only to be stopped by the sound of the doorknob opening.

"Oh, hey, Gajeel!" Lucy greeted, a surprised smile on her face. "I was just about to head out. Levy's in her room."

"Thanks," Gajeel nodded, lowering his hand and stepping into the dorm room. He went down the small hall, knocking on Levy's door.

"Shouldn't you be heading out now Lucy?" A muffled voice was heard from behind the door.

Gajeel opened the door, stepping inside the room. "Try again." He set his duffel bag onto the floor.

Levy looked up, Gajeel's gruff voice surprising her. "Gajeel!" A smile broke out onto her face as she got up from her seat, wrapping her tiny arms around Gajeel in a hug.

"You're rather happy today," Gajeel commented, a smile making its way onto his face.

"How'd you tell?" Levy asked, looking up at Gajeel with a giddy grin on her face.

"Lucky guess," Gajeel shrugged. He quickly pecked Levy's lips. "What's up?" He asked.

"I ordered some books, they're going to be coming soon!" Levy told him.

"More books?" Gajeel asked, turning to look at Levy's book corner. The bookshelves were mostly filled. "Where are you gonna put them?"

Levy shrugged. "I'll make room." She said, walking back over to her desk. "I was doing something for a class, let me finish it up." She took a seat and resumed her work.

Gajeel unzipped his duffel bag, pulling out one of the items that he had bought. Making sure to hold it carefully, he walked up to Levy, putting his hand on the small of her back.

"Gajeel, I'm almost finished with this." Levy told him, not looking at him.

"How much more you got?" Gajeel asked.

"It'll take only a minute." Levy answered him, circling something on her paper. "This is the last page and I'm halfway done."

Gajeel kissed the crown of Levy's head, waiting patiently for his girlfriend to finish.

Like she had promised, Levy was done in a minute. She turned to look at Gajeel, a smile on her face. "I finished! I told you it w-" Her sentence was short-lived with a gasp when she saw the object that Gajeel was holding in his hand.

In his hand was a bouquet of orange diascias, the orange petals complimenting the dark green stems and leaves nicely. Wrapped around the bouquet was a clear sheet with orange lining. "For you," Was all that Gajeel had mumbled. His head was turned away from Levy, the slightest hint of a blush on his tan skin.

Levy took the bouquet from his hands, examining it with a look of awe in her eyes. "Aww," She cooed, the smile returning to her face. "That was so sweet of you," Levy looked up at Gajeel, seeing that he wasn't looking at her. She pulled his shirt collar, which caused him to turn his head to look at her, and pulled him down so their faces were level to one another. She tilted her head and kissed him softly.

Gajeel returned the kiss, pulling away after a few moments. "Okay, that actually hurt my neck a little," He admitted.

Levy laughed. "It's not my fault you're too tall for me."

"Maybe you're just t-" Gajeel started, only to be cut off.

"Don't even say it," Levy held the bouquet threateningly at Gajeel.

"Gihi," Gajeel laughed.

"I gotta find a vase for these," Levy got up from her seat, gingerly setting the bouquet down as she tried to remember if there was a vase somewhere in the dorm.

"I got you one," Gajeel told her, heading over to the duffel bag. He pulled out a plain glass vase with an orange ribbon tied around it. "They gave it to me for free, something about a monthly special."

"Oh, did you get this from Iowa's?" Levy asked. She took the vase, heading to the bathroom to fill it up with water.

"Iowa's?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow, following Levy to the bathroom. "All I know is that the lady at the cash register was nice and had that one thing," He leaned against the door frame.

Levy turned on the sink faucet, holding the vase up to the water. "That's Iowa. She's the store owner and manages the store mostly by herself with some help from her boyfriend and a friend of hers. And, for starters, that _one thing_ is something called Vitiligo. Even with her skin condition, she's still a very beautiful woman, don't you think?" She asked.

"Not as pretty as you, but still." Gajeel grinned.

"Good answer," Levy hummed, turning off the faucet. "Who taught you that?"

"I wasn't born yesterday, shrimp." Gajeel told Levy. As she walked past him, he squeezed her ass.

"I felt that." Levy commented, her voice sharp.

"Good," Gajeel laughed, following her into her room.

Levy placed the vase down on her desk, unwrapping the bouquet and setting the vibrant flowers into the vase. "It looks perfect," She smiled. "Thank you, Gajeel."

"It's no problem," Gajeel told her. "Actually, I got it because it reminded me of you." He admitted.

Levy turned to look at him, a questioning look in her eyes. "It reminded you of me?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Well, your phone case." Gajeel corrected. Levy pulled her phone out of her pocket, her eyes widening in realization. "Isn't that the same flower?" He asked.

Surely enough, Levy's phone case was black with orange diascias. "Yeah," Levy nodded. "How did you remember that?" She laughed.

Gajeel shrugged. "I saw the flowers and I just remembered." He answered.

"Aw, you're such a dork~" Levy cooed, her voice annoyingly sweet.

"You're one to talk." Gajeel crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"Am I though?" Levy asked, grinning at Gajeel.

Gajeel scoffed, smiling regardlessly. "Good question." They had only been dating for a few days, but not much had changed between the two- which Gajeel was actually thankful for. They were still best friends who goofed off with one another, but now they could cuddle and kiss without having to be shy and awkward about it.

Gajeel loved everything about the bond they shared- from random dad joke wars to holding hands, he enjoyed it all; even the small things. Gajeel's favorite thing by far, however, was the fact that he could grab her ass whenever he wanted. Now that, was much more than he could ever ask for.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note: Good lord, this chapter took a while to write. I don't know why it did, either. I felt like I had written a lot but every time I checked the word count, it turned out to be less than I had thought it would be. Oops! Once again, I'm sorry for the late update! I'm kinda tired but I'm not going to let that get in the way of my update schedule! A big, big shout out to the review squad: Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and LordofAnimeCrap for reviewing! Thank you three so much! I don't think I would've gotten this far without your positive comments. To all you readers out there, please review! It would mean so much to me to hear your opinion!**

**Heads up! The guy mentioned later in this chapter is _NOT _Jellal, but, ironically, his description just happens to sound really close a description of Jellal's (I realized that as I was writing it, lol oops) If you can guess who he is, then you'll get a prize! ;) (Personally, I think it's pretty easy!)**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Natsu_

"Mavis, I'm home," Natsu called out nonchalantly, stepping inside the apartment.

"Hey, Natsu!" Mavis' voice greeted him from the living room, noticing that his voice was rather dull than it normally is. "If you w-"

Natsu's phone buzzed in his pocket and he stopped paying attention to what Mavis was saying. "Sorry, gotta take this." He told her, heading to his room as he pulled out his phone. He didn't bother to check the caller ID, instead just picking up and hoping that it was Gray. "Hello?" Natsu asked, closing the door behind him.

"Natsu," Zeref's voice sounded through the phone. "I need to ask you something."

"Oh, yeah, what's up?" Natsu asked, the slightest hint of disappointment in his voice.

"I don't have much time for this call, I apologize, but if I'm going to surprise Mavis then I need somewhere to stay when I get back. Do you have any clue where I can stay?" Zeref asked, not noticing Natsu's disappointment.

Natsu thought for a moment before an idea popped into his head. "Yeah, I got you."

"Thanks, Natsu. I have to go, now. The next call will probably be the details on my arrival. Bye, Natsu."

"Bye, Zeref." Natsu said, hearing a click that signified the end of the call.

The door to his room opened, and Natsu looked up. "Did you just say Zeref?" Mavis asked. She then looked around at the room and sighed. "I just cleaned your room,"

"Oops," Natsu scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "No, I didn't say Zeref. And why'd you follow me to my room?" He asked.

"Because something's wrong." Mavis told him, walking past all the garbage to stand next to Natsu. She put a hand on his shoulder. "You're acting a little off, is everything alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine, thanks." Natsu mumbled, the frown on his face and the distant look in his onyx eyes giving away his true emotions to his sister-in-law.

"No you're not," Mavis shook her head. "What's wrong?"

Natsu sighed, rubbing his temple. "I'd…" He paused, biting his lip. "I'd rather not say," He admitted.

Mavis nodded. "Okay, I understand. But, can I at least ask if it had anything to do with that call?" She asked.

Natsu shook his head. "No."

"Speaking of that call, if you didn't say Zeref, then who exactly did you say?" Mavis questioned Natsu, pulling her hand away from her brother-in-law's shoulder.

"I said Zera." He lied, starting to move around in his room. "She invited me alongside some other people to help her test a hypothesis in the lab." He swiped off some little bits of dirt that had got onto his lab coat from his previous lab earlier in the day, heading over to his dresser.

"Oh, okay!" Mavis smiled, not seeing through his lie. "Wait, didn't you just get back though?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side as she blinked in confusion.

"Yeah," Natsu nodded. "But the campus isn't that far from here anyway."

Mavis hummed, pausing for a few seconds before speaking up. "I had a friend named Zera once." She told Natsu. "She was very nice, and we were really close, but after high school graduation she disappeared- it's almost like she never even existed."

"Really?" Natsu asked, grabbing a comb and messily running it through his hair.

"Yeah, in fact, I almost became an investigator because of it," Mavis admitted. "And comb your hair right!" She scolded.

Natsu put the comb down and grabbed his handheld mirror, looking at his hair. "It looks fine to me." He commented, shrugging as he put the mirror back. "And why didn't you become an investigator?" He asked Mavis, slipping on his shoes. The only thing that Natsu didn't like about the lab was that he couldn't wear his flip flops.

"We had promised each other that we'd become teachers together," Mavis told Natsu, smiling. "While we're not teachers together, I know deep down that she's somewhere out there. Knowing her, she's probably a teacher too, like she had promised."

Natsu smiled. "Well, that's nice. I have to go now, though."

Mavis nodded. "Okay! Have fun, Natsu! I'm gonna go to the bar." With that, Mavis left Natsu's room.

Natsu sighed to himself. _That was rather close_, he thought, slipping his phone into his lab coat pocket and then heading out.

* * *

"Come in," A voice was heard from the other side of the brass door after Natsu had knocked on it.

Natsu opened the door, stepping inside the principal's office. "Hey, Gramps!" He greeted, a big grin on his face.

Makarov looked up from the paperwork on his desk, smiling at Natsu. "Hey, boy, how are you?" He asked.

Natsu plopped down into the seat in front of his desk, leaning back into the soft cushion. "I'm good,"

"How are the others?" Makarov asked.

Natsu's expression darkened. "Gramps…" He started, pausing for a second before continuing. "Erza's dad, Rob, is… _dead._"

The pen that was held in Makarov's hand fell to the desk, his eyes widening in disbelief. "No," He breathed, fresh tears starting to well up in his eyes. Makarov and Rob, alongside a few other people, had been close friends for the longest time.

"I'm sorry," Was all that Natsu could muster out. Makarov was a very important figure in his life, and Natsu couldn't help but tear up a little as he watched Makarov's strong resolve slowly crumble before his eyes.

"H-how did he die?" Makarov asked, holding his head in his hands as a few tears sprung from his beady, black eyes.

"Erza came home to find him in bed, pretty much already dead." Natsu told him, drying his eyes with his lab coat sleeve before the tears had a chance to escape his eyes.

Makarov sighed, closing his eyes. "Well, he died peacefully, thank god for that." He opened his eyes. "How's Erza doing?"

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not sure… She hasn't been here for the last two days."

Makarov nodded. "Maybe she's not ready to face the world yet.." He mumbled to himself. "I'll send an email to her first period teacher telling her to come here when she comes back, so that way I can send her my condolences. Would you and- wait, does Gray know about this?" He asked.

Natsu nodded. "He was the one who told me."

Makarov opened one of his desk drawers, pulling out a pair of black reading glasses and putting them on. He opened up his laptop, going to his email. "Would you and Gray like to come here so you can talk to her?" He asked.

"Yes, please." Natsu answered.

"She might be back tomorrow, so just come to my office instead of your first period." Makarov informed. "Let Gray know that too."

"Alright." Natsu nodded, pulling out his phone and sending Gray a text, hoping that he didn't make any typos.

"What's Erza's first period?" Makarov asked.

Natsu thought for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure." He shrugged. "Maybe she said something in our group chat with Gray, let me check." Natsu opened the group chat between him and his friends, searching through the messages. Natsu squinted at the phone screen. He was squinting so hard that his eyes were almost closed. When it came to reading, Natsu was horrible at it. Unfortunately, Natsu didn't have his reading glasses with him, so there wasn't much he could do.

"Here," Makarov took off the reading glasses and held them out to Natsu. "It might not be your exact prescription but it's better than nothing, right?" He asked.

"Thanks," Natsu put on the glasses, looking at his phone screen. The words were still hard to read but at least he could make out most of it. "And yeah, it's better than nothing." He looked through the texts, trying to find something about Erza's first period. "Oh, she said she met her first period teacher while she was working her shift at 8 island… And…" He squinted. "His name is… Jellal?"

"You read that right." Makarov confirmed. "Jellal Fernandes, business teacher. It's his first year as a teacher."

Natsu handed the glasses back to Makarov, who had put them on. "Oh, and there was something I was meaning to ask you."

"Of course, what is it, my boy?" Makarov asked, typing his email to Jellal.

"You know my brother, Zeref, right?" Natsu asked.

"Of course I do. How's he doing?" Makarov asked.

"He's good. He's also coming back soon," Natsu informed. "But he wanted to surprise Mavis, though. So, I wanted to know if he could stay with you for a day or two, so that way Mavis won't know that he's back."

Makarov nodded. "Of course he can stay. He's always welcome, along with you and Mavis."

"Thank you!" Natsu smiled.

"It's no problem, boy. You three are like family to me." Makarov sent the email he was typing, closing his laptop and putting it to the side. "I have to finish up this paperwork now," He sighed.

Natsu got up from his chair. "Alright, I'll leave you be. Bye gramps!"

"Bye, Natsu." Makarov smiled, waving as the pinkette left the office.

Closing the door behind him, Natsu put his phone into his pocket. "Since I'm here, I might as well go to the lab anyway." He mused, walking down the hallways towards the lab. As he was walking, he heard two voices in the hallways. He thought nothing of it, until he heard one of the voices.

"I told you I'm not interested!" An awfully familiar feminine voice scolded.

Natsu's eyes widened slightly. _That sounds kind of like…_ He went up against the wall, slowly approaching the corner to hear their conversation better. _It can't be her... Can it?_

"Aw, come on, I know you want to." A masculine voice cooed.

"No, I don't!" The female shouted.

Natsu scrunched up his nose. What kind of guy does he think he is?

"Yes, you do, stop being shy." The guy hissed.

"Get off of me!" The girl shouted.

Hearing that sentence was all it took before Natsu lost it. "_HEY!_" Natsu barked, coming from around the corner with heavy steps. His face contorted into an angry expression which was accompanied by a death glare as his fists balled up.

The two people had looked up from one another. Natsu's thoughts were confirmed as he looked at the two people in front of him. Backed against the wall was Lucy, a terrified look in her doe eyes. The man who was pressing her against the wall had indigo hair and a curvy X above his eyebrow. There was a scowl on his face. "N-Natsu?" Lucy asked, shaking.

"ARE YOU DEAF?" Natsu yelled at the man, not paying attention to Lucy. His blood was boiling as anger rolled off of him in waves big enough that the two could actually feel it flood the halls. "SHE TOLD YOU _NO,_ SO _GET OFF OF HER!_"

"Go away," The guy scolded. "I'm busy here."

"_Excuse me?_" Natsu asked, cracking his neck.

The guy huffed, ignoring Natsu and turning back to Lucy, a smirk on his face. "Now, where were we?" He asked, grabbing her chin and turning her to look up at him.

"I SAID _GET OFF OF HER!_" Without warning, Natsu shoved the guy off of Lucy, sending him stumbling back. Before the guy had time to catch himself, Natsu swung his fist at him, socking his cheek.

"You little-" The guy muttered, holding his cheek as he stumbled back. As Natsu approached him, he threw a punch at Natsu, landing it square in the face. As he listened to the bones in Natsu's nose crack and watched him hiss in recoil, he swung his other fist forward, smashing his rings into Natsu's face and hitting his eye from the side, leaving some scratches in the wake of the blow.

Natsu growled dangerously, yanking the man's hand off of his face and twisting it in a way beyond recognition. As the man cried out, Natsu shoved him to the ground, raising his fist and lowering it.

The man craned his neck to the side with fear-stricken eyes, dodging Natsu's fist barely. Natsu yelped in pain when his fist slammed into the ground. Taking the opportunity, the man uppercutted Natsu in his jaw, making the pinkette spit out blood onto the man's shirt.

Natsu kneed the indigo-haired man in the gut, causing him to curl up in pain. He raised his fist up once again, this time landing a hit on his forehead when he slammed down his fist. Blinded by his wrath, Natsu repeatedly punched the man, slowly turning his skin into a black, blue, and red canvas. After a few blows, the man managed to worm his way out of Natsu's hold, running down the halls and away from Natsu.

Natsu stayed there on his knees, watching as the man had run for his life. A part of him wanted to hunt him down as if he were an animal chasing his prey. Natsu's entire body shook with rage as the fire in his eyes pierced down the hall where the man was previously standing. Another part of him wanted to cry out in pain; his head was throbbing and he could hardly see out of the eye that the man had punched earlier. He felt blood dripping down his face and he swore he could see some black dots in his vision- but Natsu paid no attention to it, however, as there were matters more important to him at the moment.

Heaving for breath, Natsu turned his torso to see Lucy sitting on the floor where she had previously been pinned against the wall by that scumbag, her back pressed against the wall. Her hand was held up to her slightly agape mouth, her eyes wide in terror as she trembled in fear. "Lucy, are you okay?" Natsu asked, crawling to her. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?" He raised his hand out to caress Lucy's face.

Lucy, however, had shrunk back even further into the wall, holding her arm up and shielding her face from the pinkette. A small whimper escaped from her lips as she clenched her eyes shut. Her body was tense with horror and anticipation.

Natsu froze, the world around him slowly shattering to pieces. This woman, who Natsu had taken a strong liking to over the past few days, was now on the floor, trembling in fear, and it was all because of his actions earlier. It was all because of _him._ From behind her arm, he saw her open her eyes hesitantly; he saw her look at him as if he were a _monster_ to be _feared._ From the swelling in his eye to the sharp stinging in his nose, none of it compared to the pain he felt inside his heart at that moment. "L-lucy, y-you don't think that I-i'm going to h-hit you, d-do you?" That question was the only thing that Natsu could manage to choke out at the moment. His voice was quiet due to the fear that if he were to speak any louder than it would injure the blonde.

Lucy said nothing, her entire body petrified, including her train of thought. Her mouth was open once again, but no words slipped out from behind her lips- just an empty silence that filled the equally empty hallways. Tears started to well up from the corner of her eyes as all she could do was stare at the bloodied man in front of her.

"L-Lucy, I-I-I would n-never..." Natsu was unable to finish his sentence, suddenly feeling the world around him finally tear apart. This time, it was literally. A sharp pain had shot through his head, causing Natsu to groan and clutch his head as the pain coursed through his body at an incredible speed. The black dots that he had seen earlier started to appear more frequently, and the last thing that he had caught sight of before his body collapsed onto the ground was Lucy's mortified expression, haunting his final thoughts before he slipped away into unconsciousness.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: Slight kind of filler chapter? I thought this was cute and in my book, cute stuff is very necessary. I also made a habit of making a chapter of each of the main eight, so without this chapter I would've broke that habit. Shout out to Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and a big shoutout to a new reviewer, FairyFireCat! Thank you so much for reviewing, you three! Especially you, FairyFireCat! Seeing your review made my day! To all you other readers out there, please leave a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so far!**

**Heads up: In this chapter (slight spoiler but it's literally right at the beginning so not really) they're talking about a wash-off face mask in a bottle (I don't know if those exist where you live, but they do where I live, so I just thought you should know!)**

**Another heads up: Anyone still wanna guess who that guy from the last chapter is? It's your last call! Like I said in the heads up from the last chapter, the winner gets a prize! ;)**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Levy_

"Do we really have to do this?" Gajeel asked, looking at the bottle in his hand with disdain.

"Yes!" Levy exclaimed, an evil grin on her face. "I have to see how it looks!"

Gajeel groaned, opening the bottle. "You first or me first?" He asked.

"I can go first since you're already holding the bottle." Levy suggested.

God knows how she managed to do so, but Levy had convinced Gajeel to put on a face mask. She thought it would look pretty funny to see his tan skinned covered with some green lotion. Gajeel put some of the mask onto his fingers. "Uh, how do I do this?" He asked, setting the bottle down on the counter.

"Just rub it onto my face." Levy told him, closing her eyes. "Not on my eyes or my lips though."

Confused, Gajeel put his fingers to Levy's cheek, squishing her face. "Like this?" He asked.

"Not even close," Levy mumbled around Gajeel's fingers.

"Gihi, you look kinda funny," Gajeel laughed, bringing his other hand to her other cheek and squishing her face.

"Stop," Levy pouted, her voice muffled by her squished cheeks.

"No," Gajeel grinned, pulling her cheeks out.

"Stop," Levy complained. "Here," She pried his hands off of her face. "I'll do it." She took the bottle off of the bathroom counter and put some on her hand, rubbing it over her face. "See, it's not that hard," Levy told Gajeel, finishing in a minute.

"So, what do I do with the little bit on my fingers?" Gajeel asked. His eyes lit up. "Is this one of the ones that I can eat?" He asked, raising his fingers to his mouth.

"No!" Levy shouted, pulling Gajeel's hand away from his face. "You'll get really sick if you eat that!" She exclaimed. "You might even die from food poisoning!"

Gajeel shrugged. "Even better," He said, attempting to eat it again.

"NO!" Levy shouted, smacking Gajeel's hand away from his face.

"Aw," Gajeel mumbled, a dejected look on his face. "I'm hungry," He complained.

"You're always hungry." Levy pointed out, with the bottle still in her hand, she put some more onto her hand. "You ready?" She asked.

"Not really," Gajeel admitted to her honestly.

"Too bad- now hold still." Levy rubbed the green cream onto Gajeel's face, making sure to evenly spread it across every inch of his tan face. Once she was done, she pulled her hand away. "How do you feel?" She asked.

"I feel kinda weird." Gajeel responded, a look of discomfort on her face. "I'm scared to talk because I feel like it's going to fall off." He admitted.

"It won't fall off," Levy assured him.

"Well, other than that, I still feel pretty weird. I kinda like it but I kinda don't." Gajeel told her.

"Well, better than not liking it." Levy shrugged, accepting it.

"No," Gajeel shook his head. "Don't get me wrong. I hate it. I'm never doing this again."

"But didn't you just say you kinda like it?" Levy asked, confused.

"Yeah, but I kinda don't." Gajeel replied.

Levy sighed. "You're incredibly difficult sometimes." She laughed. "Ready to see how we look?"

"I have a feeling if I say not really then you're going to find a way to get me to look…" Gajeel mumbled. "So, yeah, why not?"

The two had been facing each other, not looking at the mirror. "One, two, three!" Levy exclaimed, her and Gajeel turning to face the mirror at the same time.

Levy put her hand up to her mouth to prevent herself from laughing, but the laugh was so strong that it came out as a snort. Gajeel's normally intimidating face looked rather feminine, the face mask covering all of his piercings. "I hate this." Gajeel commented, looking at himself.

Levy lost control and burst out laughing. "Well, I, for one, love it!" She laughed, ignoring Gajeel's annoyance and actually finding his expression to be quiet funny.

"You live for my pain, don't you?" Gajeel asked.

"Maybe." Levy quickly pulled out her phone, opening the camera and taking a picture of Gajeel's reflection in the mirror.

"Hey!" Gajeel exclaimed. "Delete that!" He tried reaching for the phone.

"No!" Levy shouted, turning away from Gajeel. "I have to set this as my lock screen!"

"At least set it to the home screen so that way random people opening your phone won't see it!" Gajeel protested, trying to reach for the phone again.

Levy thought for a moment, moving her phone away from Gajeel's hands. "Deal!" She set the picture to her home screen.

"Wait, no, I didn't mean that!" Gajeel exclaimed. "Don't set it at all!"

"Too late, I already set it to my home screen." Levy boasted, a victorious smile on her face.

Gajeel sighed. "Fine," He quickly pulled out his phone, taking a pic of Levy's surprised face. "Two can play at that game."

"No!" Levy exclaimed, reaching for the phone.

Gajeel raised it above his head. "You gotta get it first," He smirked.

Levy raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms. "You're not actually going to make me jump for that, are you?" She asked.

"Maybe," Gajeel shrugged, a "gihi" escaping his lips.

Levy sighed. "If I get it then you'll have to delete it."

"Deal." Gajeel grinned.

Levy bent her knees slightly, jumping up and holding her hand out. She missed. Horribly. Gajeel burst out laughing, keeping his hand high in the air. "Shut up!" Levy jumped up again, trying to get the phone.

"This is great," Gajeel laughed, raising up his other hand and opening up the settings.

"No!" Levy shouted, jumping again. She was nowhere close.

After a few more jumps, Gajeel had successfully changed his home screen to the picture. "Too late," Gajeel lowered down his phone screen and showed it to Levy.

Levy sighed. "Well, I guess that's only fair." She mused, laughing a little.

"How long do we have to keep this mask on?" Gajeel asked, putting his phone back into the back pocket of his jeans.

"Around 20 minutes." Levy answered.

"There is no way in hell I'm doing that," Gajeel groaned.

"You better keep that shit on, Gajeel." Levy threatened. "It's not exactly that cheap."

Gajeel sighed in disdain, giving in to his girlfriend. "Fine, fine."

A smile made its way to Levy's face. "Yay!" She cheered.

"One condition." Gajeel continued.

"Okay." Levy nodded. "What is it?" She asked.

"Watch a show with me." Gajeel requested.

Levy blinked. "That's it?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side in confusion.

Gajeel nodded. "Yes. That's it. Unless you want something worse?" He raised his brow.

Levy stared at Gajeel for a few moments before laughing. "W-what?" Gajeel asked, thrown off guard.

"I can't take you seriously with that face mask on," She laughed.

Gajeel groaned. "Goddammit," He cursed under his breath. "Are you gonna watch the show or no?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Levy nodded. "I'll watch the show with you. It better be good, though."

"Come on," Gajeel said, leaving the bathroom.

Levy followed Gajeel, making a split second decision and squeezing his ass.

"...Did you just grab my ass?" Gajeel asked.

Levy laughed behind him. "Revenge for earlier. You have a pretty firm ass." She complimented.

Gajeel sighed, causing Levy to laugh harder. "You're so weird," He commented.

"I think you're weirder." Levy replied.

"We'll see about that," Gajeel chuckled, plopping down onto the sofa.

"Okay," Levy sat on his lap as if it were something she did every day, which she didn't.

"...Why?" Gajeel asked a slight blush on his face as he wrapped his arms around Levy's torso. He moved his chin to rest it atop her head, but then remembered the mask he was wearing and refrained himself from doing so.

"Because." Levy answered. "Now put on the show you doof."

Gajeel grabbed the remote off of the coffee table, flicking on the TV. "Don't you have Netflix or something?" He asked, opening the Netflix app.

"Yeah," Levy told him.

"How does this school pay for everyone to have Netflix?" He asked.

"They don't." Levy answered. "This is my personal Netflix account. I pay for it."

"Oh, I didn't know you had it."

"Wait," Levy interjected, watching as he selected Levy's account. "Don't tell me this is that kids show that you watch."

"It's called anime for your information," Gajeel corrected, which elicited a groan from Levy. "And it's not for kids!" He pulled up the search bar and typed in the title.

"How so?" Levy asked.

"It has dragons in it." Gajeel stated matter-of-factly.

"That proves my point!" Levy exclaimed.

"No, it doesn't!" Gajeel protested. He selected the anime, Drascle, and held his thumb over the select button. "I bet I can get you to like this anime by just watching this one episode." He challenged.

"I think not," Levy shook her head.

"Let's find out," Gajeel smirked, playing the first episode.

* * *

"Holy shit I love Aibel." Levy mumbled, watching the ending. "We must protect her."

"So, I take it you like the show?" Gajeel asked.

Levy nodded. "I'd die for Aibel."

"Wait till you meet Guiro." Gajeel chuckled.

"I think it's time to wash off the face masks now," Levy said, getting up from Gajeel's lap and heading to the bathroom.

Gajeel got up from the sofa, following her to the bathroom. "Finally," He sighed happily. "I get to take this stupid mask off."

"I'm gonna miss your cute green face," Levy told him, a pout on her face. She turned on the water and washed the mask off of her face. She left the water on for Gajeel as she dried up her face.

Gajeel only took a few seconds to clean it off of his face. "Finally!" he shouted in victory, turning off his water and drying off his face.

"Do you feel any different now?" Levy asked.

"Well, I can breathe now." Gajeel answered.

"That's it?" Levy tilted her head slightly to the side. "I think your skin looks clearer."

Gajeel looked in the mirror, blinking. "Well, I don't look stupid anymore. Other than that, I look the same.'" He commented.

"Are you saying that because you're ignorant or because you're a vampire and you just can't see yourself at all?" Levy asked, laughing slightly.

An evil look encompassed Gajeel's face. "Rawr! I vant to zuck your blood!" He exclaimed.

Levy rolled her eyes. "That was such a bad vampire impression." She criticized.

"It's not my fault I don't watch Twilight," Gajeel retorted.

"Twilight is a good series!" Levy protested, crossing her arms. "I have to admit, the book is better."

"You're just in it for 'Team Edward' or whatever they call it." Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Edward is hot, though." Levy stated it as if it were the most obvious thing.

Gajeel scoffed. "What about me?" He mumbled under his breath.

"Awww, is someone jealous?" Levy cooed, a teasing tone to her voice.

"No, I was just asking." Gajeel lied.

Levy pretended to think for a moment. "Hm…" She mused. "Compared to Edward, I'd say you're okay." She told him.

"Hey!" Gajeel exclaimed. "At least I'm real!"

Levy laughed. "I'm just kidding, Gajeel." She told him. Gajeel simply crossed his arms, not saying anything. "I could never compare you to a fictional character, Gajeel."

"Really?" Gajeel asked.

"Yes, you dummy!" Levy laughed again. "Come here you big furball!"

"...wait, did you just call me a furry?" Gajeel blinked.

"Oh my god just shut up and hug me," Levy groaned.

"No need to tell me twice," Gajeel grinned, scooping Levy up in his arms for a big bear hug.

Levy buried her head into Gajeel's shirt, wrapping her small arms around his muscular frame. "I'd much rather prefer you over any vampire or werewolf." She told him, starting to laugh reached her hand down and squeezing his ass.

"What is up with you and squeezing my ass?!" Gajeel questioned, which only made Levy laugh even harder.

"It's funny!" Levy exclaimed in between laughs.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: I had started writing this chapter on the 30th, hoping to get a head start so that way I could finish it the day before I had to publish, and I literally just now finished it. I even didn't go to school today because my sister is starting to get me sick and I have an important test tomorrow (It's an EOC, wish me luck!), so I didn't want to be sick on the day of the test. I spent most of my time finishing up this chapter. This chapter is the biggest chapter that I've written so far, standing at whopping 6k words exactly! Woah! Not that I'm complaining, but why is it always the Nalu chapters that turn out to be the long ones? Shout out to the review squad, Juviafullbuster1, LordOfAnimeCrap, and Ushindeshi for reviewing! An especially big shoutout to a new reviewer, HurricaneGlitter! Reading your review made me so giddy and ecstatic, I felt like a little kid! Thank you so much HurricaneGlitter! To all you readers out there, please review! Your reviews mean the world to me and I would love to hear your opinion.**

**Heads up! I'm assuming no one reads these heads ups cause I gave y'all a solid four days to guess who that _mystery man _was and possibly win a prize but no one did so! :C Well, you have another chance, because there's a little kid who's mentioned in this chapter, and if you can guess who he is then I'll give you a prize! :D**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Lucy_

"I think we're starting to get somewhere," Loke mused, closing the notebook that he was holding. "Though, I'm gonna be heading home now." He told the group, opening up his bag and putting his notebook inside. "Aries is sick and I thought I should take care of her instead of finishing the study without her."

"Aww, look at you, being such a good boyfriend~" Lyra cooed, her eyes lighting up.

"We're merely roommates, that's all." Loke told her, heading towards the door of the class.

"Sure," Taurus crossed his arms. "Just roommates."

"Tell Aries I said hi!" Lucy called out to Loke.

"Yeah, me too!" Lyra added.

Loke raised a hand, signifying that he heard the two, before leaving the classroom.

"I think it's time to wrap this up," Pisces chimed in. "My shift at work starts soon."

"Awww," Lyra frowned.

"We can always continue some other time," Lucy reminded the frowning girl.

"Yeah!" Lyra smiled at Lucy.

Lucy, alongside a group of classmates and friends, were studying the thirteenth zodiac, Ophiuchus, and whether it should truly be considered the thirteenth zodiac, or if it were just another constellation in the sky. Their group consisted of Loke, who was like the leader of the group; Lyra, a very nice girl; Taurus, a womanizer with a kind heart; Pisces, who was his momma's little boy; Aries, who was probably the sweetest girl in the world; Virgo, a unique woman who would bend over backwards for her friends at any given time; Libra, who was the peacekeeper of the group; Pyxis, a rather unorganized but cheerful guy; Deneb, a pessimistic poet; and of course, Lucy. Not all of them could make it, but the ones who could would stay after school to study together. Today's session was cut shorter than the sessions normally lasted.

After bidding her friends goodbye, Lucy walked down the halls of the school towards the exit closest to the dorm building. "I wonder if Levy's home," Lucy thought out loud to herself, happily strolling down the halls.

"Hey, Lucy!" Lucy stopped, turning her head. Behind her, she saw Bora walking towards her. Bora had been trying to get her to date him ever since her junior year in high school. At first, Lucy had thought he was rather cute, and even thought about dating him, but she quickly heard from other girls that he was just an average player. Guess he hadn't taken the hint that she wasn't interested in him anymore. She decided to be nice to him, though, which ended up being a big mistake on her part.

"Hi, Bora!" Lucy greeted, smiling at him.

"What's up?" He asked her, coming to a stop alongside her.

Lucy shrugged. "Nothing much, I was just on my way back to the dorm room." She told him. "How have you been?" She asked.

Bora ran a hand through his indigo hair. "I've been okay. Its been a while since we've talked." He shot her one of his self-proclaimed heart capturing grins.

"Yeah, it has," Lucy faked a laugh to hide the uncomfortable feeling that had started to sink into her gut.

"Maybe we should hang out sometime," Bora suggested, flashing her his famous grin that would get a girl who didn't know any better to squeal.

"Well, I'm kind of busy," Lucy lied. "I have a job, I have to study for my classes. I'd love to, but I don't think I can."

"Well, then, how about we hang out now?" Bora asked.

"What?" Lucy asked, caught off guard by Bora's question.

"Come on," Bora grabbed Lucy's hand, smiling at her. "It'll be fun. We'll catch up, just the two of us." His tone of voice changed with the last segment of his sentence.

Lucy pulled her hand out of his hold, taking a step back from him. "Like I said earlier, I'd love to, but I have to study."

"Aw, that's no fun," Bora frowned, stepping closer to Lucy. "It's okay to neglect your studies once in a while." He moved his head next to Lucy's ear. "Have some fun, babe," He whispered, his hot breath sending an unpleasant chill down Lucy's spine. "Spend some time with me."

Lucy pushed him away, stepping back once more. "Back off! I said no!" She scolded.

"Why not?" Bora asked, tilting his head.

"Because I'm busy! I don't have time for this!" Lucy argued, turning to leave.

Without warning, Bora pushed Lucy against the wall, pinning her wrists above her head. "Quit lying to me," He growled, poison dripping from his voice.

"I'm not lying!" Lucy argued, thrashing in his grip. "Get off of me!"

"Tell me the truth," Bora urged, glaring at her. He tightened his grip on her wrists.

"Fine!" Lucy exclaimed, closing her eyes and flinching. "I didn't want to reject you so I just made up an excuse!" She told him, slowly opening her eyes.

Bora was silent for a few moments before he moved his lips to brush against the blonde's ear. "I've waited so long for this, Lucy," He whispered, his raspy voice making Lucy tear up. "I've waited a whole two years for this moment, Lucy. So many other women came up to me, but I rejected them all for you. Hell, I even broke up with my girlfriend. I did so much for you, and you have the audacity to lie to me?" He asked, hissing the last few words.

"I-I'm sorry," Lucy shook, closing her eyes once again. "I-I didn't m-mean to o-off-" Lucy paused, realization dawning on her. Bora was guilt tripping her into wanting him; after all, it would be considered consensual if she did want him back. Lucy quickly opened her eyes, angrily glaring daggers into Bora. "No." She said, her voice firm. She could tell by his expression that she had caught him off guard.

"No?" Bora asked, laughing a little. "No?"

"No!" Lucy exclaimed. "I'm not letting you guilt trip me into something I don't want to do!" She yelled, kneeing him in the gut.

Bora stumbled back, letting go of Lucy's wrists. Lucy took off running in his moment of shock. Bora ran after her after he had caught her breath, quickly catching up to her. He slammed her into the wall, not caring that he had made her hit her head. "How dare you defy me!" He yelled, smacking Lucy on the face.

The force of Bora's hand against her skin was enough to move her head to the side a little. The hit had left a mark on Lucy's face as red as a stop sign. Lucy was silent, saying nothing as she felt her knees slowly start to give way from underneath of her. Her head was hurting from when he had slammed her wall, and she could feel the sting of his hand still piercing through her skin. From the corner of her teary eyes, she glared daggers at Bora. She had wanted so hard to fight back, but she knew that she was just a weak little girl.

Taking her silence as a victory, Bora leaned his head in next to her neck, lightly kissing her skin. "Now, let's try this again." He whispered against her flesh. "Do you want to spend some time with me?"

Lucy scrunched up her nose. She knew that she was far more weak then Bora was, but she'd be damned for all eternity if she were to let him get what he wanted. "No." Her voice was slightly weak due to her throbbing head.

"Why. _Not?_" Bora growled, gripping her shoulders tighter.

"I told you I'm not interested!" Lucy shouted, a newfound energy coursing through her veins which caused her voice to get stronger.

"Aw, come on, I know you want to." Bora cooed, kissing her neck again.

"No, I don't!" Lucy shouted. She might not be able to fight off Bora, but surely someone could help her. Maybe, if she shouted loudly enough…

"Yes, you do, stop being shy." Bora hissed, his voice growing louder as he harshly nipped at her neck, sinking his nails into her shoulders.

"Get off of me!" Lucy shouted even louder, moving her head and forcefully pushing Bora's head away from her neck. She tried to hide it but her fear shined clearly in her chocolate eyes. Bora smirked, about to make another comment when a loud voice caused both of them to look up.

"HEY!" A voice all too familiar to Lucy barked. She watched as Natsu stormed from around the corner, looking as if he were ready to kill.

"N-Natsu?" Lucy asked, shaking.

"ARE YOU DEAF?" Natsu yelled at the man, not paying attention to Lucy. He was so angry that Lucy could feel it, and it was rather scary. "SHE TOLD YOU NO SO GET OFF OF HER!"

"Go away," Bora scolded the pinkette. "I'm busy here."

"Excuse me?" Natsu asked, cracking his neck.

Bora huffed in annoyance, ignoring Natsu and turning back to Lucy, a smirk on his face. "Now, where were we?" He asked, grabbing her chin and turning her to look up at him.

"I SAID _GET OFF OF HER!_" Without warning, Natsu shoved Bora off of Lucy, sending him stumbling back. Before Bora had time to catch himself, Natsu swung his fist at him, socking his cheek.

A silent gasp escaped Lucy's lips as she watched Natsu sock Bora in the cheek, which was something she wasn't expecting. At first, Lucy was actually grateful for Natsu coming in to rescue her, but as the fighting continued she started to grow more weary. She flinched as she heard the cracking of their bones and cringed when she saw Natsu twist Bora's arm. _Shouldn't they have stopped by now?_ She thought to herself, feeling shaky.

Lucy wanted to take the chance to escape, to run off to her dorm building, in case Bora were to win, but she was frozen in place. Blood had gotten all over them and splattered all around them on the tile too. Lucy wanted to tell them to stop, but she found no words coming out of her mouth. As she watched Natsu beat the living daylights out of Bora, she slowly sunk to the ground, holding her shaky hand above her open mouth as she watched the brutal scene go on in horror.

Bora had managed to escape from Natsu's grip with a face that had been beaten beyond recognition as he ran for his life. She watched as Natsu sat there, staring after Bora. Suddenly, he turned to her, the angry look still on his face. He said some words and crawled up to her, but none of it made sense to Lucy. Her head was still hurting from earlier, her face was still stinging from that smack, and she was still shaken up from the brutal scene she had just witnessed.

Lucy saw a sad look inside Natsu's eyes which made her heart hurt a little before he collapsed onto her lap. Lucy simply stared at him, her body shaking. "N-Natsu," She breathed, hesitantly moving her hand to touch his hair. Her movements were stiff, as if he would wake up any second. Lucy stared at Natsu, not moving an inch.

Suddenly, she yelped, realizing the situation that the two were in. A blush of embarrassment spread across her face like wildfire as she gently grabbed his head and moved it away from her lap, lightly setting him down onto the floor.

This man, who Lucy had started to take a liking to over the past few days, was now on the floor, bloody, bruised, and blacked out on the floor, and it was all because of her. A strange wave of sadness washed over her, tears suddenly flowing down from her eyes as she cried onto Natsu.

Natsu had fought off Bora for her, injured himself for her, could've easily ruined his reputation for her, and she had just looked at him as if he was gonna turn on her. "N-natsu," She wept. "I'm sorry,"

Lucy looked down at her lap where Natsu was previously laying, noticing a few specks of blood on her jeans. She looked back to Natsu, and she could see the side of his face was bleeding. Carefully, Lucy flipped him over.

Looking up and down the halls, Lucy was able to tell that no one would be in sight. Sighing, Lucy stood up, grabbing Natsu's arms. Lucy was far too weak to carry Natsu, but the least she could do for him was try and bring him to somewhere with a first aid kit. Lucy thought for a moment, trying to think of where the nearest first-aid kit could be.

"Woah, what happened here?" A friendly and familiar voice made Lucy jump, snapping her head to the direction of her voice.

Standing in the hall was Scorpio, her astrology teacher, holding a little crate which had some paperwork in it in his hands. He had been with her and her classmates a few minutes ago until they all had left to do their own thing. Scorpio had stayed after to finish some things up. "M-mr-" Lucy exclaimed, only to get cut off.

"I told you, you can call me Scorpio." He waved Lucy off. "Anyone who's a friend of my babe is a friend of mine." Scorpio was Aquarius' girlfriend, and he also told Lucy that even though she didn't show it often, Aquarius truly cared about Lucy and even missed her a little, which made Lucy rather happy to hear. He kneeled down next to Lucy, setting his crate down and looking at Natsu. "Is everything alright?" He asked.

Lucy shook her head, looking at Natsu. "He got into a fight with someone else."

Scorpio frowned. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was fights without a proper reason behind them. "Why?" He asked. "And who with?"

"It was Bora," Lucy told him, avoiding eye contact with the older man. "He-he tried to convince me to-to," She bit her lip, not wanting to continue her sentence.

"You don't have to continue that sentence," Scorpio told her, patting her arm. "Did that guy fight him off?" He asked.

Lucy nodded. "His name is Natsu, and yes. I think he went a little too far, though." She admitted.

Scorpio hummed in thought. "He looks pretty beat up. I think the school nurse left already."

Lucy blinked. "We had one?" She asked.

Scorpio shrugged. "That's what I was told."

Lucy sweatdropped. "I was just gonna take him to the lab- they have a first aid kit in there, right?" She asked.

"They should, but shouldn't we take him to the hospital?" Scorpio questioned. "It's your call though."

"I'm going to try to wake him up first," Lucy answered. "If he doesn't then yeah, I'll bring him to the hospital."

Scorpio nodded, standing up. "Do you need some help?" He offered.

"Yes, please." Lucy smiled, standing up. "I can hold your crate." She took his crate into her arms.

"Thank you," Scorpio scooped up Natsu bridal-style. "Lead the way."

"I think it's right down the hall, actually." Lucy stated, starting her journey down the hall with Scorpio following suit. The two passed by multiple hallways until they passed by the lab hallways. The two of them went down the hall, heading to the first lab door they saw. Lucy shifted the crate she was holding to one hand, grabbing the door handle with her free hand and attempting to open the door. "It's locked," She mumbled, jiggling the handle.

"Hey, jit, over here." Scorpio called out to Lucy, getting her attention. "Your knight in bloody armor also happens to be a lab rat, what with the lab coat and all. Check inside his pockets, maybe he has a key to one of the labs."

Lucy nodded, heading over to Scorpio and reaching her hand inside one of Natsu's lab coat pockets. Nothing. She checked the other pocket, hitting the jackpot when she felt his phone and what felt like a set of keys attached to a ring. She pulled out the key ring, looking at the three keys. They were all silver, but one key had a strange symbol on it, one key had a number on it, and the other one had an address on it.

"It's the one with the number on it," Scorpio informed her.

Lucy looked at the number then looked at the numbers on the door. "I think it's further down." She told Scorpio, walking down the hall. The door at the very end of the hall had the same number as the one on the key. Lucy stuck the key into the door, turning the key and silently cheering when she heard a click. Taking the key out of the door, she grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

"Nice!" Scorpio entered the lab, careful not to hit Natsu on the doorframe. He gently set down the pinkette on one of the lab tables. "I take it you've got it from here?" He asked Lucy.

Lucy nodded, setting the crate and the key down onto the table next to Natsu. She looked around the room for a few seconds before she spotted the first aid kit hanging on the wall. "Yeah," She told him, heading over to the kit and taking it off of the wall. "Thank you so much!"

"It's no problem." Scorpio waved her off, taking the crate in his hands. "Bye, Lucy." He turned to leave.

"Tell Aquarius I said hi!" Lucy called out after him, watching as the door closed. She walked over to the lab table where Natsu was laying, setting the kit down and taking a good look at his face. There were a few large scratches on Natsu's face from Bora's rings, some of which were still bleeding. There was dried blood around the black and blue eye that Bora had punched, his mouth, and around his deformed nose.

"Oh, Natsu." Lucy sighed, frowning. She gently cupped his cheek with one hand. "Look at what you did," The corner of Natsu's lips twitched, and Lucy tilted her head. "Natsu?" She asked.

A small grumbling noise escaped Natsu's lips. He slowly moved his hand to rest on top of hers. Lucy caught sight of his bloodied knuckles before she turned her gaze to rest on the onyx eyes that had just started to flutter open. "Lucy?" Natsu asked, his voice raspy.

Lucy smiled softly at Natsu. "Yeah, it's me." She assured him.

Natsu stared at Lucy for a few moments before his eyes widened in realization. "Lucy!" He exclaimed, sitting up. He held her face in his hands, examining every inch of her face. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice frantic. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Woah, Natsu, calm down," Lucy rested her hand on top of Natsu's hand. "I'm fine, Natsu." She assured him. "You should focus on yourself."

Natsu shook his head. "I don't care about me," He told Lucy. Without warning, Natsu reached down and grabbed Lucy's waist, lifting her up onto the lab table with him.

Lucy squealed in surprise, placing her palms on the table to keep herself from falling. She was sitting on her knees on top of Natsu's lap, his arms around her waist and their faces close together. "N-Natsu wh-" Lucy stammered, her face heating up.

"Lucy," Natsu breathed, intensely looking her in the eyes. "Why'd you lie to me?" He whispered, brushing his thumb over the red handprint that was still on her cheek.

Lucy's body froze up, her eyes widening partly because she had forgotten about Bora's earlier actions, but mainly because his words were similar to Bora's.

"He did hurt you, didn't he?" Natsu asked, his eyes filled with a storm of emotions that ranged from sadness to anger.

Lucy nodded, looking down at her lap to avoid his gaze. "Yes," She told him. Lucy waited for a reaction from Natsu, some angry words of revenge or maybe even some sad words was what she was expecting. She wasn't expecting it at all, however, when Natsu pulled Lucy close to him, resting his chin on her shoulder as they embraced. She could feel him shake slightly as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, leaning her head against his and closing her eyes. Some of the blood from his face dripped onto her bare shoulder, rolling down her back and onto her off-the-shoulder top.

"I won't let him touch you ever again," Natsu whispered into her ear, his voice soft and soothing- the polar opposite of Bora's. "Or anyone, for that matter."

"Natsu?" Lucy asked, her voice a whisper as well.

"Yes?" He replied.

Lucy was silent for a few moments, trying to think of how to word her question. "Why do you care so much?" She asked.

Natsu didn't respond at first, but instead, he pulled away from her so he could look her in the eyes. "I...I'm afraid I can't bring myself to answer that," He mumbled, biting his lip. "I'm not ready to tell you." Lucy frowned. _What could've possibly happened that made Natsu act like the way he did, _she thought to herself, genuinely confused. "Though I can say that a part of me just snapped and I guess I-" He paused, looking away from Lucy. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"No," Lucy's words caused Natsu to look back at her. "I had never seen a fight like that before, I didn't know how to react. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." She apologized.

Natsu smiled weakly at her. "Then I'm sorry that you had to see that." He apologized back.

Lucy lightly chuckled. "I think we should stop apologizing." She suggested. "Also, about your comment earlier, you said this happens all the time?" She asked.

"Oh, um, sometimes I get into brawls with my friends." Natsu explained to her. "It never ends up like this, though." He assured her after seeing her worried expression. "Can you pass me the kit?" He asked, removing his arms from around her waist.

"Oh, yeah," Lucy reluctantly removed her hands from around his neck and reached behind her, grabbing the kit and handing it to Natsu. "I'll get off of y-"

"No," Natsu grabbed her wrist gently with one hand and held the kit in his other hand. "I mean, if you want to get off of me then that's fine go right ahead," He quickly added, letting go of her wrist as his face heated up and turned pink.

Lucy nodded. "I think it'd be easier for you if I got off, though." She told him, crawling off of his lap and sitting with her legs folded. _Natsu's rather cute when he's flustered,_ she thought to herself.

Natsu opened the kit, looking at the contents. He pulled out his phone, opening the camera and switching it to the front. "Holy shit," Natsu zoomed in on his eye. "Did he have a ring on or something?" He asked, looking at all of the scratches and blood.

"Yeah, I think," Lucy told him. "I wasn't paying attention." Natsu set his phone and the kit onto the table before he hopped off, heading over to one of the sinks. Lucy watched as he grabbed some of the brown paper towels, proceeding to clean his bloodied face. _I wonder if Scorpio's going to tell the headmaster about this incident…_ Lucy thought to herself, a frown encompassing her face. _I hope Natsu won't get in trouble for this, he was just simply trying to help._

"Lucy?" Natsu's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hm?" Lucy asked, blinking. Natsu was now standing in front of the table, cleaning the wounds were the ring had scratched him with some antiseptic.

"Why are ya frowning?" Natsu asked, genuine concern in his voice. "Something troubling your mind?

"Oh, not really, no." Lucy shook her head. "I'm just wondering… Is this the worst you've been injured?" She asked.

Natsu thought for a moment. "Due to a fight? Possibly. In general? Far from it."

"What do you mean, far from it?" Lucy asked. "What happened?"

Natsu sighed, setting down the antiseptic and shrugging the bloodied lab coat he was wearing off of his shoulders. Lucy noticed that he was wearing a black long sleeved turtle neck and a white scarf with black lines across it. He set the lab coat onto the table, and before Lucy could process what Natsu was doing, he started to lift up his shirt.

Lucy's face instantly flushed. "_Holy shit_," She mumbled under her breath, her words practically inaudible. As he lifted up his shirt, Lucy started to feel a little light headed as she had caught a glimpse of his toned six-pack. With the sleeves still on, the shirt still on his neck, and the only part of him revealed was his torso, he turned around. A gasp escaped Lucy's mouth as she saw numerous large burn scars scattered across his back. "Holy shit," She repeated, this time more louder and more concerned than the first one was. "What happened?"

"It happened around 6 years back," Natsu told her. "Near the beginning of what I think was 9th grade for me. I had visited the elementary school to help out with this lab that third graders do. They were looking at how hot-air balloons worked. I was helping out with one group when I noticed their bunsen burner wasn't heating up as fast as they normally do. Smoke suddenly started to rise out of the bunsen burner, so I told everyone to get down. One kid was so excited for the experiment that he didn't hear me, so I hopped in front of him right as the bunsen burner exploded. The fire burned the table and it burned right through my shirt and scorched my back, though the teacher was able to put out the fire before it could hurt anything else."

"I had heard about that incident in 7th grade," Lucy commented, staring at the burns. "It was all that everyone I knew talked about for a long time. You were the one who saved that kid?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. Even to this day, people still won't shut up about it," There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, probably because Natsu didn't like the attention. "The burns were third degree, and they completely knocked all the feeling out of my back from my neck to my hips. You can touch my back if you'd like, but I probably won't feel it."

Lucy hesitantly reached forward, touching his back and leaving her hand on there. "Well?" Natsu asked. "Are you going to touch it or can I put my shirt back down?"

"I am touching it." Lucy told him, moving her hand. "You really can't feel that?"

Natsu looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey," He lightly chuckled. "Didn't see you there. No, I can't." Lucy removed her hand and watched as Natsu lowered his shirt back down. He grabbed his lab coat and analyzed it, frowning as he saw the numerous bloody spots on it. "That's gonna be a pain to wash out," He mumbled to himself. His eyes trailed to Lucy, and he noticed the spots of blood that had got onto her shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I got blood on you."

Lucy looked down at her shoulder. She hadn't noticed that before. "Oh, it's fine," She reassured him, sliding off of the table and heading over to the sink. Grabbing some of the brown paper towels, she wet them a little bit and cleaned off her shoulder.

"He didn't hurt you anywhere else, did he?" Natsu asked. Lucy looked at Natsu from the corner of her eyes, and she could see him staring at her. There was a frown on his face. Lucy was about to speak before Natsu beat her to it. "Please, be honest this time."

"When he pinned me to the wall he made me hit my head," Lucy admitted. "My head kind of hurts from it still." She saw the corner of Natsu's lips twitch into a snarl, and in an instant, she was able to tell that he did not like that one bit. "I'll be fine, though." She quickly added.

"Who the hell does he think he is anyway?" Natsu asked, clearly annoyed.

"His name's Bora." Lucy told him, throwing the towel away and walking over to Natsu. Natsu was holding some bandages in his hand, looking at his bloodied knuckles. "Do you need help with that?" She offered.

Natsu nodded, smiling sheepishly. "I can't do shit with my left hand other than eat and punch." He admitted. "So, I think I'll take your offer." He handed the bandages to Lucy, then rolling up his shirt sleeve to his elbows.

Lucy gingerly held Natsu's hand in hers. "Do you have anything on your left hand?" She asked, starting to wrap the bandages around Natsu's knuckles.

Natsu looked at his left hand. "No." He told her, watching intently as she fixed up his hand. "Can you tell me more about Bora?" He asked.

"I met him two years ago, in my junior year of high school," Lucy informed him. "He was a senior. He's had a thing for me ever since, and at first, I kind of did too, but it didn't take long for me to learn that he was just a player. Bora's smart, which is a bad thing in some cases, because he won't do anything without anyone's permission, but he'll bug the hell out of them until he does have their permission, which is what he was trying to do with me." Lucy ripped the bandage off from the rest of the roll once she had finished wrapping his hand. "I'm done." She told him, letting go of his hand.

Natsu clenched his newly bandages fist. "That little bastard," He cursed under his breath, looking down at his fist.

Lucy gently rested her hand on Natsu's right arm, causing him to look at her with curious eyes. "Natsu," She started, her voice soft. "Calm down. I think the last thing you need is to get into another fight."

Natsu sighed, closing his eyes and raking his fingers through his hair with his left hand. "You're right." He opened his eyes, looking at Lucy. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into an embrace. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop him from hurting you," He whispered, softly resting his chin atop her head.

Lucy rested her head against Natsu's chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "It's okay, Natsu." She assured him. "In fact, thank you, Natsu." She whispered. "I don't know what else would've happened if you wouldn't have stepped in." Lucy heard his heartbeat slightly speed up and she let out a little chuckle.

"No need to thank me," Natsu moved his chin off of Lucy's head and smiled down at the blonde, staring at her with an adoring gaze. "What are you laughing about?" He asked.

"Your heartbeat," Lucy told him. "It sped up a little after I spoke."

A blush made its way to Natsu's face, which he was thankful that Lucy didn't see. "Really?" He asked.

Lucy nodded, not moving her head away from Natsu's chest. "Yeah."

Natsu removed one of his arms from around her waist and grabbed Lucy's chin, turning her head so she was looking up at him. He moved his hand to hold some of her golden locks in his hand. Letting the silky locks fall back to the rest of her hair, he gently cupped her cheek, staring into her chocolate eyes. "Can I…" He paused, biting his lip. "Can I kiss you?" He asked.

Lucy giggled slightly, a light pink blush dusting her cheeks. "I thought you'd never ask," She answered, tilting her head slightly to the side and staring into Natsu's onyx eyes. Natsu slowly lowered his head, his eyes fluttering closed as his lips met with Lucy's. Lucy felt as if her heart had been set on fire, and she cherished every second of it; from the way his lips tasted to the way his arm around her waist pulled her even closer to him. She gently rested her free hand on his torso, her other hand still holding onto his arm from earlier.

After a minute, Natsu pulled away, gently resting his forehead against hers. The orange sunlight filtering into the room made his features shine. Even with his busted nose and bruised eye, Lucy still found Natsu to be as charming as ever. "I should've asked earlier," Natsu commented, a stupidly cute grin on his face.

Lucy smiled at Natsu, a small giggle escaping her lips. She felt rather giddy, as if she were a middle-schooler fangirling over her first crush. "You should've." She replied.

"Can I kiss you again?" Natsu asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"No need to ask," Lucy grinned, another small giggle escaping her lips. Natsu planted another kiss onto Lucy's lips, which the blonde happily returned.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! I was really busy these past two days! I remembering saying that I expected this chapter to be 3k words at the most but it turned out to be over 4k words instead, oops! I had fun writing this chapter, it's a little spin-off from the main characters! I love Lories, and I hope that you guys do too! In case you forgot, Karen Lilica was the former owner of Aries' and Loke's keys. She's mentioned later in this chapter. Shout out to HurricaneGlitter, Ushindeshi, LordofAnimeCrap, and Juviafullbuster1 for reviewing! Thank you four so much! I truly appreciate your reviews, they always make me smile! To all you other readers out there, please review! It would make my day so much better!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Loke_

Magnolia was a truly beautiful place. A traditional city, with cherry blossom trees scattered across the median strips that separated the moderate traffic. Most people usually walked on the sidewalks and crosswalks, and some of the places in Magnolia were only accessible by foot. Some people were walking and talking with their friends and loved ones, while others were on their phones playing Pokemon Go.

Loke was doing neither of those. He was walking alone, heading back to his apartment. A few people stared at him as he walked, but he paid no attention to them. Ever since he was little, he was always known to be charmer, even if he wasn't trying to be.

Loke didn't mind the attention, he actually enjoyed it. There would always be a beautiful woman allured by his spiky orange hair or a gorgeous lady entranced by his suave voice. He also learned that sometimes, paying the ladies no mind made them want him more.

"Hey," A feminine voice purred, the owner putting their hand on his shoulder. "I haven't seen you around here before; I can show you around if you'd like~" She cooed.

Loke tilted his head slightly to the side, looking at the woman from the corner of his eyes. She was pretty, but he had more important things to be doing at the moment. "I've lived here my whole life," He told her. "But I've never seen a woman as pretty as you,"

"You're too kind, sir," The woman cooed, batting her eyelashes. "There's a bar nearby, wanna hang?" She asked.

"I'd love to, darling, but I have some business to be attending to." Loke reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. "Maybe later tonight," He winked, handing it to her.

The woman took the paper and blew him a kiss, stalking off back to where she came from. Loke continued walking when his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Already?" He hummed to himself, pulling out his phone. It was a text from Aries, his roommate, and his long time friend.

_We're out of soup, could you stop and get some more?_ She asked. _Sorry!_

Loke looked up at the street he was on. Coincidentally, He was about to cross the intersection where the grocery store was. _What kind?_ He texted back, stopping and watching as the cars drove by.

_Any kind. I'm so sorry!_

Loke tucked his phone back into his pocket, crossing the street as the pedestrian light turned green and the cars had stopped. Once he got back onto the sidewalk, he walked past a few stores before arriving at the grocery store. Loke pulled out his phone again, entering the store. _Is there anything else we need?_ He grabbed one of the little hand-held baskets that were at the front.

_Let me check._ As Loke waited for his roommate to reply, he headed to the canned goods aisle. "Hm…" Standing in front of the soups, he tried to guess which one she'd like when he felt his phone buzz in his hand. _We're low on cereal, sorry!_

_I thought I just bought a new box not too long ago._ Loke replied. He grabbed two cans of tomato soup and two cans of chicken noodle soup, setting them inside the basket.

_Yeah, but I ate it all today. Sorry!_

Loke facepalmed, a short laugh coming out of his mouth as he read the text that Aries had sent him. _I'll be back in a few minutes._ Loke tucked his phone into his pocket, walking to the cereal aisle. He grabbed a box of Lucky Charms and put it inside of the basket. After a silent debate, he decided that they'd probably need another box, grabbing a second box and putting it into the basket.

Loke headed to the first aisle he saw, which happened to have no one there at the moment. Setting the basket on the conveyor belt, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. "Good afternoon," The cashier's voice greeted him as he pulled out his card.

Loke looked up to see a cute girl scanning the items. "My, my; it seems that I might have to check you out as well," He flirted.

The girl looked up from the computer screen, a small blush on her face. "Then how much would I ring up as?" She challenged.

Loke smirked. "A beautiful face like yours is priceless," He told her, winking.

The girl looked back down to the computer, her face red. "Your total is 10.27." She told him.

Loke inserted his card into the machine, entering his pin and then taking out his card once the machine told him it was okay to do so. As Loke put his card in his wallet, the lady handed him the receipt. "Have a good day," She winked at him.

"You too," Loke flashed a brilliant smile at her, putting his wallet back into his pocket. He grabbed the receipt and the bag, heading out of the store.

As Loke walked down the sidewalk, he looked at the receipt. Scribbled on it was a phone number alongside the words "Call me" written in cute cursive handwriting accompanied by a heart. Loke chuckled, slipping the receipt into the grocery bag as he walked back home.

It didn't take long for him to walk back home. Loke grabbed the door handle, opening the door. Aries had a bad habit of always leaving the doors unlocked, but sometimes it came in handy. "Aries," Loke called out. "I'm home."

Not hearing a response, Loke sighed, closing the door behind him. He went over to the pantry, setting the cans of soup and one of the cereal boxes onto a shelf. From the corner of his eye, he saw something on the stove. Loke turned to the stove. There was a pink sticky note on the counter and a pot on the stove.

_Since we were out of soup I just made some of my own. I made it a while ago, though, so you probably need to heat it up. Sorry! -Aries_

Loke smiled at the little sticky note, taking it off of the counter and slipping it into his shirt pocket. Aries had bubbly handwriting, and she always put hearts on top of her i's, something which Loke found adorable. With the bag containing the other box of cereal still in his hand, he headed over to Aries' room, knocking on the door frame.

"Come in!" A voice immediately followed by a sniffle called out. Loke opened the door, his eyes instantly landing on the mass of blankets atop the bed. "Hi!" A cheery voice greeted from the mass.

Loke blinked. "Aren't you hot?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"I'm freezing!" Aries' voice was slightly muffled from the covers.

Loke sighed, going up to the bed and sitting on the edge. "Did you turn on the heater?" He asked.

"Yeah, sorry, but I still feel cold…" Aries told him.

Loke sighed. "That's probably because you're sick. Come out of the covers, please. I got you something."

"Sorry!" The mountain of covers moved, and Aries stuck her head out. Her eyes lit up at the bag that Loke was holding. "Lucky Charms!" She cheered, sticking her hands out from underneath the blankets.

Loke handed the bag to Aries, frowning slightly. There were dark bags underneath her purple eyes, and her skin looked much more pale than it normally did. Her voice also sounded a little hoarse. "You don't sound too good." He commented.

"I don't feel so good either." Aries sighed, taking the box out of the grocery bag and opening it. "I'm sorry, but I don't think you should be here," She told Loke, eating some of the Lucky Charms. "You're gonna get sick,"

Loke shook his head. "I'll be fine." He assured her. "For now let's focus on the person who's actually sick at the moment."

Aries let out a cute sneeze, covering her mouth with a tissue from the tissue box right next to her. She dropped the tissue into the trash bag that she had moved next to her bed earlier.

"Bless you," Loke smiled slightly.

"S-sorry," Aries mumbled, hiding her face in her hands.

"Stop apologizing." Loke sighed.

"Sorry," Aries mumbled. "I-i mean- o-okay," She quickly added, realizing her mistake.

"You've been taking medicine, I assume?" Loke asked.

Aries nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I'm not five." She assured him.

Loke got up off of the bed. "I'm gonna go get myself some soup- thank you for that by the way." He smiled at her.

A blush spread across Aries' face and she quickly buried herself back under her covers. "O-okay."

Loke left Aries' room, heading to the kitchen. Not really paying attention, he opened what he thought was the cabinet where they put their cups and bowls, but instead opened the medicine cabinet by accident. "Huh," He mumbled to himself, moving his hand to close the cabinet but stopping midway due to something had that caught his eye.

Sitting in the medicine cabinet was the cold medicine that Loke had just bought yesterday, the wrapper still on it. "That's strange…" He mumbled to himself grabbing the bottle off of the shelf it was on and then closing the cabinet. He opened the trash can to see if perhaps there was an empty bottle, but didn't see any signs of one. Watching as the lid fell back onto the trash can, he rubbed his temple, heading back to Aries' room. "Hey, Aries?" He asked, stepping into her room once again.

"Yes?" Aries asked from underneath the covers.

"Which medicine are you taking?" Loke asked

"That one you bought two days ago." Aries answered.

"Try again." Loke said, causing Aries to stick her head out from underneath the blankets. Her eyes widened when she saw the unopened bottle in his hands.

"I-I-I-" Aries stammered, hiding her head back under the covers.

Loke sighed, heading over to the bed. He pulled the covers down and let them fall to her lap. Aries was now sitting up, her hands covering her face as her frail body shook. He sat down next to his lifelong friend, gingerly wrapping his arm around her petite shoulders. "Aries," He frowned. "You need to take better care of yourself. You're just going to get even more sick if you don't look after yourself."

"I know," Aries told him, her voice muffled by her hands. "But sometimes it's hard," She admitted, sniffling. "I know it's been a few years since she died, but even now I still have trouble finding motivation to go on."

"I understand that it's hard, but what I don't understand is why it affects you so much. Your mother was so cruel to you, she treated you as if you were an object- shouldn't you be a little happy now that you're free to do as you please?" Loke asked.

"I am, but that doesn't change the fact that she's gone, Loke." Aries shook her head. She lifted her head up from her hands to reveal tears streaming from her purple eyes. "It doesn't change the fact that she was the only person I had and that I couldn't do anything to save her."

"But you have me," Loke grabbed her cheek and wiped her tears with her thumb. "I've been with you your whole life."

"Yeah, but a bond between two friends is far more different than a bond between a child and their mom, Loke." Aries protested. "Even if she did abuse me, I still loved her. Wi-with all of my heart. A-and I st-still do," She told him, her voice choking up. "I miss her. I miss her voice, I miss her hair, I miss her eyes, I miss her smile, I even mis-"

"_Don't. S_ay it," Loke interrupted her, pausing in between his sentence as his voice slightly cracked. "You're hurting both of us by even thinking about it."

"I-I'm sorry, but w-what can you do? What can you do," Aries hiccuped mid-sentence. "When the person closest to you is gone? Do you just w-wait for them in agony? D-do you join them?"

Loke shook his head. "Life's too short to wait for someone who's not going to come back. Instead of spending your time wondering when Karen will come back, spend your time with the people around you while you still have time to spend." Seeing the doubtful gaze in Aries' eyes, Loke continued. "Take it from me. My father was never around. It was just me. I would wait day after day, even months at a time, but I wouldn't see him. After a while, I got tired of waiting. Every second that I possibly could, I spent it with him, but other than that I did my own thing. I learned about the stars, spent time with you, all of that made the waiting much more shorter."

Aries looked down at the cover on her lap, wiping some of the tears off of her eye. "I-I'm sorry," She apologized.

"Why are you apologizing?" Loke asked, grabbing her chin and making her look up at him.

"B-because I'm being selfish, aren't I?" Aries asked, strong resentment for herself evident in her voice. "I'm spending so much time worrying about my mom that I pay you no mind." A few more tears had started to fall down her eyes.

Loke shook his head. "No, no. It's okay if you miss your mom. I'm just scared for you," He explained to her. "You failed to take care of yourself, which got you sick, all because of your mom. I don't want you to suffer, Aries. I want you to be happy."

"But how can I ever be happy when my mom is no longer here?" Aries asked, her voice soft.

Loke leaned his forehead against Aries', closing his eyes. "You can be happy with me." He whispered, gently grabbing the pinkette's hand and holding it inside of his own. "I'm here."

"But you're not!" Aries snapped, yanking her hand away from Loke's and pulling her head away. "You're always with your friends or you're studying or you're with some other women who you come across! But where do I fit in that picture?" Loke opened his mouth to speak but Aries interrupted him. "I _don't!_" She shouted. Aries froze, her eyes widening as she realized the words of her outburst.

"A-Aries, I-" Loke held his hand out to her.

"Stop," Aries pushed his hand away, turning her head in the opposite direction. "Just… _Get out._" She mumbled, her voice sad.

Loke swallowed back his words of protest, getting up and leaving her room. He entered his own room, taking off his glasses and setting them on his nightstand. Facing his bed, he fell face first onto his bed, his face falling into his pillow and his body hitting the mattress as he heard the noise of paper being move.

After laying there for a few minutes, he sat up, reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a paper. It was the sticky note the Aries had left him earlier. Loke smiled, putting his glasses back on as he got up from his bed and headed over to his desk.

Loke opened a desk drawer and sifted through some pens and papers to reveal an old shoebox. Loke pulled out the small shoebox, smiling softly at its unique decoration.

Scribbled messily onto the box in blue paint were the words "Loke + Aries = BFFs 4 ever" with some backwards letters. To the left of the saying was a messy yellow and orange lion finger painting, and to the right of the saying was a neater purple and pink ram finger painting. Both of the drawings were small, and the ram, Aries' drawing, looked much better than the lion, Loke's drawing.

Loke opened the shoebox to reveal different scraps of paper. From birthday party invitations and notes passed in class to paper airplanes with secret messages and sticky notes left on the kitchen counter, there were all different kinds of papers.

Loke gently set the sticky note from earlier into the box, smiling warmly at all the fond memories. As a rather impatient kid, Loke always lived at a pace that was far too fast to have any time to wait for someone. He spent his days living his life to the fullest, doing everything that he wanted. Most of his time was spent with Aries and some random girls in his classes. Even to this day, he always hung out with different girls. He always met so many new people every day, he didn't want to just focus on one person. This was why, despite popular belief, he never had a girlfriend. Most people just saw him as quite the charming bachelor, anyways, and he was perfectly fine with that.

Aries was quite the opposite of Loke. She was patient and quiet, always hesitant to speak and made sure that she was never first when it came to sharing ideas. Due to her abusive mother, Aries was rather shy when it came to meeting new people. She was incredibly nice, but she apologized a lot- even to people she knew. Aries didn't have many friends; for the most part, she only had her mom and Loke, and she was perfectly fine with that.

Suddenly, a thought occurred in his mind. All his life, he believed that life was too short to settle down and wait for someone. He never bothered to stop for anyone. But now, something else sparked in his mind. Life wasn't just too short to wait, but it was too short to leave someone waiting. He was so focused on moving ahead that he completely left the one person behind who was always there for him.

_Aries._

Even after all these years, she waited for him. Loke wasn't dumb, either. He knew that Aries liked him. She never said anything about it, though. Instead, she just waited. Waited year after year, hoping that maybe someday he'd slow down enough for her to catch up. No matter what he did, she was always there right behind him. She had been there all along.

Loke let out a dry laugh. He had been so blind all of his life, but now, everything was rather clear. There were two things he could do. He could either keep up this wild life he had been living, capturing and breaking the hearts of different women on the daily, or he could stay by Aries' side. Loke stared at the box of notes in his hands, frozen still. He felt his throat dry up as he thought hard about what he was to do.

A torrent of buzzes whirred through the air and shook his phone, shaking him out of his thoughts and causing him to jump slightly. Loke set the shoebox down on his desk, pulling his phone out of his pocket. There was a mix of messages from an unknown number and Aries.

_**Unknown Number**_

_Hey handsome. Remember me?_

_Are you still down to hang out tonight?_

_I know a place where we can go ;)_

_**Aries**_

_I'm sorry_

_Please come back_

_I didn't mean to snap at you_

_I'm sorry_

_Loke please_

After looking at the messages, the choice was rather clear for Loke. He put the shoebox back into the desk drawer, closing it.

_**Loke**_

_Sorry, I'm afraid that I can't come tonight._

After texting the number, he blocked it, plugging his phone in and setting it on the desk. He reached into his shirt pocket and grabbed all of the little slips of paper he had on it. Loke carried them in case some girl were to ask for his number. Seeing no need for them, he tossed them into the trash, watching as the papers fluttered into the can.

Loke quickly changed out of his clothes from the day, slipping on an old gray shirt and some boxers for pajamas, before leaving his room and heading to the kitchen. He opened the freezer, grabbed the container of cookie dough ice cream, grabbed two spoons from the silverware drawer, and headed back to Aries' room, gently opening the door.

Aries was hiding underneath her covers once again. Loke walked up to her bedside, setting the ice cream and the spoons on her nightstand. He sat down on the bed next to her, lifting up the covers and sticking his head underneath of them. Aries had been crying, he could tell when he saw some fresh tear tracks across her cheeks. "I'm sorry," Loke apologized.

"W-why are you apologizing?" Aries asked, genuinely confused.

"I've been an ass to you," Loke answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I knew very well how you felt about me all this time, but I turned a blind eye to it. I'm, quite frankly, a dumbass, and I hope you can forgive me."

Aries let out a little laugh. "You are a dumbass." She agreed with him. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."

Loke shook his head. "I deserved it. And it's really hot in here, do we have to stay in here?" He asked.

Aries pushed the covers off of the two of them. "But now I'm cold," She pouted.

Loke wrapped an arm around Aries, pulling her close to him. "Not as long as I'm here," He smiled at her.

"B-but, you're gonna get sick-" Aries started to protest, but was interrupted by Loke.

"Like I said earlier, I'll be fine." Loke dismissively waved off her statement. He grabbed the ice cream and the spoons off of the counter, setting it in between them. "Are we all good now?" He asked.

Aries' eyes lit up at the ice cream, but she bit her lip at his statement. "Well," She started, grabbing the grocery bag that the Lucky Charms was in. She pulled out the receipt, handing it to him. "I found this,"

Loke looked at the receipt. There was the number of the cashier from earlier today. Without missing a beat, Loke ripped the paper in half twice, letting the remains of it fall into Aries' trash can. "How about now?" He asked, giving her a genuine smile. Aries nodded, reaching towards the foot of her bed and grabbing her computer. As she did so, Loke noticed that she was wearing his favorite orange shirt. It was rather big on her petite frame, which made Loke love it even more. Even better, she wasn't wearing any pants- just undergarments. "Nice outfit," He smirked.

Aries blushed as she opened the computer and set it between the two of them. "It was the first thing I saw," She told him. "Now let's have the best Drascle binge-watching session of all of binge-watching history."

* * *

The next morning, Loke woke up in Aries' room. They had fallen asleep last night while watching anime. The computer was open, but it was off. Loke looked next to him and saw the empty tub of ice cream on her nightstand alongside his glasses. Loke grabbed his glasses, putting them on and observing the sleeping girl who was clinging onto him like a koala. "Rise and shine," He whispered huskily, watching as Aries started to stir.

"Did we fall asleep?" Aries asked, blinking the grogginess out of her eyes.

"Seems like it," Loke answered. "Can you pass me a tissue?" He asked.

"Sorry," Aries mumbled, grabbing a tissue and handing it to Loke. "I got you sick, didn't I?" She asked.

Loke shook his head, blowing his nose. "No, I'm fi-" Loke cut himself off with a loud sneeze. "I'm fi-" Another sneeze. "...I'm fi-" Another sneeze. "Okay, maybe just a little." He admitted, throwing away the tissue. "I'd say it's worth it, though." He smiled warmly at Aries, who was resting her head against his chest. Unbeknownst to Loke, Aries was smiling as well, a light blush dusting her cheeks.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the late update! I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it flat out- I had such heavy writer's block when it came to writing the beginning of this chapter. I didn't have anything written for this chapter until today, because I was so focused on finding a beginning that I forgot that I could just write other parts and then come back. I hope you like the beginning, I thought it was kind of funny. (I also made a reference to Jellal's magic, haha!) I thought writing this whole chapter was actually kind of funny! It's 3k words and I had so much fun with every aspect of it! Big shout out to the review squad, Juviafullbuster1, Ushindeshi, and LordofAnimeCrap! Thank you so much for leaving reviews! I'm sorry I forgot to reply to them all, oops! But, to answer your question, LoAC, there will be more Nalu soon, but you have to be patient- these other ships need some love too!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Erza_

Erza sat in the car, her body stiff. Her thoughts were going wild and she couldn't find anything to say. This morning was rather interesting, to say the least, for Erza had woken up to see Jellal working out on a pull-up bar at the top of the door (god knows how she missed that when she first went into the room), something which she wasn't expecting in the slightest to see. Then again, she had no clue what to expect.

Instead of letting him know that she had woken up and that she needed to pass by him to take a shower, Erza simply stared at Jellal. The morning light filtering through the window made the beads of sweat dripping down his body glisten. Erza could see his biceps and his back muscles flexing as clear as day. At that moment, Erza decided that her hot shower would've been rather cold compared to the marvel before her eyes.

To make matters even worse, when he lowered himself to the ground, Erza pretended to just wake up. He bought her act, but when he turned to face her, she swore a part of her died on the inside because _hot damn_ did he have a six-pack. It took all of her might not to stare and gape at it like an idiot.

In a good way, that image of Jellal haunted her mind. The way he raked his fingers through his slightly wet blue locks that clung to his skin, the way he smiled at her, the way his voice sounded when it was slightly out of breath, everything about him in that moment drove Erza_ crazy._

However, that image stuck in her mind may not have been a good thing. Now, the two of them were sitting in the car, Jellal focused on the road and Erza trying so hard not to think of that heavenly body she saw earlier. She felt as if she were a teenage girl with her first crush, and she hated being unable to come up with any words to start up a casual conversation like a normal human being. It was safe to say that her view on Jellal drastically changed.

"Oh, Erza," Jellal's voice snapped Erza out of her thoughts. "This might sound weird, but unlock my phone, there's no passcode," He told her. "I think there's something you'd like to read. I saw it earlier but I forgot to say anything."

Erza blinked in confusion at his strange request but did so anyway. His lock screen was a to-do-list, which Erza thought was rather smart. She pressed the home button and the phone opened up to an email from the headmaster.

_Greetings, Jellal._

_I have contacted you in regards to one of your first period students, Erza Scarlet. I request that you send her to my office when she returns back from her absence. Thank you for your cooperation._

_Best wishes, Makarov Dreyar._

Erza hummed in thought. _What could Makarov possibly want?_ She thought to herself. As if Jellal had read her mind, he spoke up. "What do you think Makarov wants?" He asked.

Erza shrugged. "I'm not sure," She answered, locking his screen and setting his phone back down.

"You haven't been doing anything bad, have you?" Jellal asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

Erza shook her head. "No." She answered. She saw Jellal look at her from the corner of his eye. "N-not that I know of," Erza added, a little bit nervous.

Jellal laughed slightly. "I'm just teasing," He assured her. "I believe you."

"Oh," Erza looked out her window, her face heating up. "Well, I guess I'll find out when I get there." She looked down at her lap to see her hands shaking slightly. Taking a deep breath, she turned her gaze back onto the moving landscape outside of her window.

"Are you okay?" Jellal asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Erza answered, the scene from earlier that morning intruding her thoughts. "Just a little tired, that's all."

A silence took over the car. Was it strange that Erza wanted to continue their conversation? She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find any words. She closed her mouth, deciding to keep quiet. The two eventually made it to the school, Jellal heading to his class and Erza heading towards the headmaster's office.

It didn't take long for Erza to arrive, looking up at the brass door in front of her and dusting off her skirt. It was just Makarov, who was sort of like a second father to her. She reached for the door handle and opened the door, stepping into the room. "H-"

Erza's greeting was cut short by a pair of arms wrapping around her in a hug. "We heard about what happened," The voice of her childhood friend, Natsu, spoke. "We're so sorry,"

Something inside of Erza broke, and she felt tears start forming in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Natsu. She felt two other people join in the hug, who she assumed were Gray and Makarov. "My friend Juvia told me what happened without saying your name, and when she described what you looked like I could tell that it was you." Gray explained.

"He was a good man," Makarov added, his voice shaky. "He's in a much better place now."

"T-thank you," Erza mumbled, a few tears slipping from her eyes. The comfort given to her by her friends was exactly what she had needed. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you guys sooner," She apologized after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

The three of them pulled away from the hug. "It's okay," Gray assured her. "We understand why you couldn't tell us right away."

"If there's anything else, you know that we're all here for you." Makarov reminded her.

"Again, thank you," Erza looked down at her feet. "I don't know how I'd be able to cope if it weren't for you three. But," Erza paused, looking down at her shoes. "I'd rather not get too into it now," She told them.

Natsu nodded. "Of course, we just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Erza looked up and smiled at the three of them. "Truly, thank you." She noticed Natsu's beat up face. "Um, did I miss something?" She asked.

"Yeah, you said you'd tell me what happened." Gray added, crossing his arms.

"Well, uh," Natsu looked down at his wrist as if there was a watch there, which there wasn't. "Look at the time, I gotta get to class!" He exclaimed. "Nice talk guys,"

"No, you don't." Makarov's voice made Natsu stop dead in his tracks. "You two," He looked at Erza and Gray. "Are free to leave. But _you,_" He pointed at Natsu. "Stay here."

"Let's get out before we witness a murder," Gray joked, heading out of the room.

"Save me, Erza," Natsu cried, watching as the red-haired woman stood at the door.

Erza pretended to think for a moment. "Hm, I think you'll be fine." She smiled at Natsu's pained expression, leaving the room to see that Gray had waited for her. A thought popped into Erza's mind. "So," She started. "You know Juvia?" She asked.

Gray nodded. "Yeah," He told her.

"How'd you meet?" Erza questioned, walking down the halls alongside Gray.

Gray bit his lip. "It's a long story," Was all that she said.

Erza nodded. "Well, she told me about you. It seems she really likes you." She commented.

"Really?" Gray asked.

Erza nudged Gray's shoulder. "You two would be cute together," She teased.

Gray blushed, putting his hands into his pockets and looking away. "What about what happened on the first day of school?" He asked, changing the subject. "You still crushing on that mystery person?" He looked at Erza from the corner of his eye, a slight smirk on his face.

"You don't know anything about what happened." Erza protested. "It could've been anything."

Gray nudged Erza's shoulder mockingly. "So you're admitting that it could be someone," He teased.

Erza harshly stepped on Gray's foot. "Do you want to end up like Natsu?" She asked, threateningly.

Gray yelped in surprise. "N-no," He stuttered.

"Then I advise you drop it." Erza smiled intimidatingly.

Gray nodded. "No need to tell me twice," He looked up at a hall they were approaching. "This is where my class is," He told her.

"I'll see you later," Erza's scary smile turned into a more genuine smile as she waved bye to her friend. She sighed to herself, walking alone in the halls for a few moments before she got to her classroom. She saw the door start to close and sped up her pace, catching the door before it closed.

"Oh, Ms. Scarlet, you made it just in time." Jellal commented, watching as Erza walked into the class and made her way to her seat. He looked around at the class. "It seems that everyone's here today," He commented to himself, looking down at his attendance sheet. Jellal cleared his throat. "Today, I have a friend of mine here to share with you about patents and copyright. Ichiya, you can start now."

A tiny man with luscious orange hair grinned at the class. "Good day, students." He greeted, his squinty eyes scanning over each one of them. "If you don't recognize me, I'm Ichiya, the CEO of _Parfum Parfait._" Some of the girls and even some of the guys in the class raised their eyebrows. Parfum Parfait was a very popular perfume company among young women.

Erza blinked. She had heard of it, but she didn't have any of the perfumes. She watched as Ichiya started to inhale through his nose, only to stop. He sniffed the air, his squinty eyes suddenly shooting open and staring directly at Erza. Erza shuddered in her seat, creeped out by the tiny man's beady eyes piercing through her soul.

In the blink of an eye, Ichiya was kneeling beside Erza, holding her hand in his. "You have such a lovely parfum!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as he sniffed at her. The students around the two laughed at Ichiya's strange actions.

Erza was frozen in her seat. _What would a normal person say to a creepy tiny man saying that they had a nice smelling parfum?_ "_Uh,_" Was all that Erza could get out. She was confused, creeped out, uncomfortable, and did she mention_ confused?_

"Ichiya." Jellal's stern voice caused everyone to look up at him. "I'd much rather prefer if you'd refrain from hitting on Ms. Scarlet," He spoke, his expression unreadable. "Or any of my students for that matter." He added.

Ichiya got up, still holding Erza's hand. "Until we meet again, my love," He whispered, kissing her knuckles and going back up to the front. Erza blinked, shaking slightly in her seat. _What... just happened?_ She thought to herself, genuinely confused and a little bit unnerved.

* * *

"I'm sorry if Ichiya made you uncomfortable," Jellal apologized. "He's a little bit on the weird side but I've never seen him do something like that before."

It was the afternoon now, after classes had ended. The two of them were heading back home. Erza shook her head. "It's fine. It was a little weird, though." She admitted.

"So, what did Makarov want?" Jellal asked, pulling to a stop at a red light.

"Nothing important," Erza told him, not wanting to bring it up. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything bad, either." She added. "Also, I meant to ask this earlier but it slipped my mind- did I miss anything the past two days?"

The light turned green and Jellal continued down the road. "Not really," Jellal answered. "It was mostly just the students questioning me." There was a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"About what?" Erza asked.

"It was mostly the girls," Jellal paused, glancing at Erza from the corner of his eyes. "No offense," He flashed her an apologetic smile which made her heart flutter a little. He set his gaze back onto the road ahead. "They asked about my age and relationship status, stuff like that."

"Huh," Was all that Erza said. Thoughts of Jellal's toned body started intruding her thoughts once more, and Erza wasn't surprised to see why those girls were so nosy. Not that she would ever admit it, but she was a little curious too. Erza opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of a phone ringing interrupted her.

"Oh, that's my phone," Jellal told her. "Can you see who it is? I don't like calling while driving,"

Erza picked up his phone, looking at the caller ID. "It's Ultear."

"Can you pick it up?" Jellal asked. "It's probably important.

Erza pressed the button to accept the call, turning the phone on speaker. "Hello?" She asked.

"Jellal, I apologize if you h-" The powerful feminine voice paused mid-sentence. "_Who is this?_" She asked.

"That's Erza." Jellal spoke, taking one hand off of the wheel and gesturing Erza to hold up the phone to him, which Erza complied to. "Why'd you call? Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Jellal." Ultear's stern voice rang loud and clear. "Why did you get a girlfriend without telling me and Meredy?"

Erza's face flushed at Ultear's serious comment. Jellal's face tinted red. "_Ooooh,_ Jellal got a girlfriend?!" Another voice from the line was heard. "Are you okay? Has he done anything to you?" She asked. Erza held back the urge to giggle.

"No, no, s-" Jellal tried to speak, only to get interrupted.

"Can she hit the woah?" Meredy asked.

"Mered-" Jellal started, only to get interrupted once again.

"Be quiet, Jellal! I wanna know if she can hit the woah. Can you?" Meredy asked.

"I'm not his girlfriend, but yes, I can hit the woah." Erza answered.

There was silence on the line for a few seconds before Meredy's enthusiastic voice boomed through the line. "When's the wedding?" She asked.

"Mere-" Jellal tried to reason with the hyperactive girl, but to no avail.

"Can I be the flower girl?" Meredy asked.

"Mer-" Jellal tried again.

"No, Wendy would be a better flower girl," Meredy concluded. "Can I be the be-"

"_Meredy!_" Jellal's loud voice caused Meredy to stop talking instantly. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Then why is she with you?" Meredy asked.

Ultear gasped. "Jellal, don't tell me she's a-"

"_NO!_" Jellal exclaimed, his face red from embarrassment.

"Oooh, Jellal, I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff~" Meredy cooed.

"I_ strongly_ dislike the two of you," Jellal grumbled, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

"Aww, you're no fun!" Meredy pouted.

"Okay, speaking of, I think you've had your fun, Meredy." Ultear's voice was heard once again. "Jellal, I called you to tell you that Erik would like to have another consultation with you." She informed.

Jellal sighed. "Again? What about?" He asked.

"He says that it's important, but he won't tell Meredy or me what it is until you come." Ultear explained.

"He's sad about it, too." Meredy chimed in.

"Really?" Ultear asked.

"Yeah, I could feel that it troubled him deeply." Meredy answered.

"Alright, tell Erik that I'll be there soon." Jellal told them. "Is there anything else you need?" He added.

"Send a picture of Erza!" Meredy chirped.

"Other than that?" Jellal asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah, actually," Ultear answered. "There is something else that I have to tell you, now that I think about it."

"Hm?" Jellal hummed. "What is it?"

"If you ever need help with any girl troubles all yo-"

"_Bye._" Jellal loudly spoke over Ultear's voice and Meredy's giggles, signaling Erza to hang up. Erza hung up before Ultear could finish her sentence. Jellal was silent for a few seconds before he spoke up. "I apologize for their behavior," Was all that he said.

Erza let out a small laugh. "It was actually kind of funny," She admitted. "Who are those two?" She asked.

"Ultear's like a mother to me, and Meredy's her daughter." Jellal explained. "We founded a company, Crime Sorciere. It's sort of like a therapy for former criminals."

"I've heard about them," Erza commented. "You're the CEO?" She asked.

"Alongside Ultear and Meredy, yeah." Jellal nodded. "It's a little bit out of the way, though. You don't have work today, do you?" He asked.

Erza shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Then I'll just drop you off back home." Jellal told her. "Could you tell Wendy that I left for Crime Sorciere?"

"Yes, of course." Erza nodded.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Jellal pulled up into the driveway. "Oh, yeah, there's a spare key in the glove department." He informed Erza.

The scarlet-haired woman opened the glove department, seeing the key and taking it. "Thanks," She closed the glove department and unbuckled her seatbelt. "I'll see you later. Good luck with Erik," Erza flashed Jellal a smile, opening the door and stepping out of the car, closing it behind her. She walked up to the front door and unlocked it, stepping inside of the house.

Wendy was inside, watching something on the TV. "Hey, Wendy!" Erza greeted, closing the door behind her and heading towards the girl.

"Hi," Wendy greeted, her eyes glued to the TV.

"Jellal told me to tell you that he had to go to Crime Sorciere." Erza told the teen. She blinked, looking at the TV. "Is that Drascle?" She asked.

Wendy looked away from the TV, her eyes sparkling. "You know what Drascle is?!" She asked, excitement in her voice.

Erza nodded, sitting down next to Wendy. "Yeah, my friend Natsu swears by it. He loves dragons."

Wendy grinned. "So do I!" She exclaimed. "It's really good! Especially the dragon aspect! I love it!" Wendy paused, looking down at her lap. "Hey, Erza?" She asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" Erza replied, smiling at Wendy.

"I, I wanted to ask if… If…"


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the late update! I was trying to play Yandere Simulator today but I almost broke my computer because it was lagging really badly. I had a free-write in english class today, so I wrote a NaLu oneshot. I was unable to finish it, however, so I'll type it up, finish it, and then I'll post it; so keep your eyes peeled! Big shout out to the review squad, Ushindeshi, LordofAnimeCrap, and Juviafullbuster1 for constantly reviewing! You three and your reviews mean a lot to me, I cannot thank you enough! To everyone else out there, please review and tell me your opinions about MU! I hope that all of you readers enjoy this chapter! I had fun writing it because I can totally relate to Juvia DX I couldn't find the sheet music to Dad's Song anywhere! It was so frustrating, but it made it even more satisfying when I finally found out the right chords! Also, I apologize to all of the non-musical people who might not understand what's going on!**

_**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail Belongs to Hiro Mashima!**_

* * *

_Juvia_

Juvia stared at the keyboard in front of her, looking at the white and black keys in concentration. Black Steel Gajeel and the Element Four were performing Cinematics, an album by Set It Off, at a local venue. Usually, sheet music for their songs was easily accessible on the online market, but unfortunately for Juvia, she was unable to find any sheet music whatsoever for one of the pieces, Dad's Song.

She had found a cover of the song on youtube, including piano, but the camera angles changed often to the point where Juvia couldn't always see what notes were being played. When it came to playing the piano, Juvia was an excellent pianist with an incredible ability to read sheet music, but even some of the most skilled pianists couldn't master the art of perfect pitch- which was the ability to recognize a note by simply hearing the sound of it.

Juvia, like most musicians, did not have perfect pitch, which made learning the song even harder than it probably actually was. She had searched online endlessly for it, but could only find chords for guitar. She tried converting it to Piano, but Juvia didn't understand a thing. Aria couldn't help her, and even Gajeel couldn't help her.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Juvia held her head tightly in her hands as she resisted the urge to get up and slam her head into the wall. The tritone sounding from her phone caused her to look up. She picked up her phone, checking the notification. It was a text from Gray. _Hey, you done with your classes?_

_Yeah._ Juvia replied. She wasn't really paying attention, but was instead looking at her keyboard. _How was she going to do this?_ She thought to herself.

Juvia felt her phone buzz in her hand. _Wanna hang out?_ Gray asked.

_Sure._ Was all that Juvia answered. Putting her phone back down, the blue-haired woman decided to play what she had known. She grabbed the water bottle that was next to her and took a sip. She decided to play what she had figured out, which wasn't much. After she had went through the few notes, she picked up her phone again. Gray had texted her a minute ago.

_You okay?_ Gray asked her.

_No :c_ Juvia answered honestly. _I'll explain why when you get here. The door's unlocked, by the way._

_Okay. I'll be there soon._ Gray texted. Juvia set her phone down, looking at the keys. Maybe singing while playing the notes could help her find the next chord. She cleared her throat, playing the notes as she sang

"Do you believe-" Juvia paused, furrowing her eyebrows. She sang it too low. "Do you believe-" Still too low. "Do you believe in happy end-" Juvia let out a groan. She had mastered the first part but sang too low on the second part. She was fairly sure they went down to the same pitch, but somehow she missed it.

In frustration, Juvia played the Jeopardy theme as she tried to calm herself down. Her patience was wearing thin with this song. It was a good song, but there was only so much someone could take. Maybe she could get Gajeel to come and sing it for her- after all, he was singing it at the concert.

Juvia shook her head. Gajeel wasn't home at the moment. She cleared her throat, deciding to just sing it and focus on the notes. As Juvia sang, she closed her eyes, trying to imagine the piano in the background. Juvia was unaware of the door opening and the person walking into the room.

Juvia skillfully played the first chord of the chorus in a smooth arpeggio, singing along gracefully. As she sang, she slowed down. She was still unsure of what the chord was for the next part. "Every tear I had was shed…" Juvia paused her words, cringing as the chord she tried sounded rather abhorrent. "No!" Juvia exclaimed, pressing down random chords.

Leaning back in her chair, Juvia let out a frustrated groan. "Woah," The sound of a masculine voice made Juvia let out a shriek as she nearly fell out of her chair.

With horrified eyes, Juvia looked at the source of the voice. It was Gray, standing with an unreadable expression on his face. "Gray," Juvia breathed, her heart beating like mad. "You scared me," She clutched her fist and held it close to her chest, breathing erratically.

"Sorry," Gray apologized.

Juvia waved her hand dismissively. "You're fine, but, um, how long have you been here?" She asked.

"Long enough to find out that you have an angelic voice," Gray answered.

Juvia's face flushed and she looked down at her lap. "N-no," She shook her head. "I always mess up when I sing that song because I hit some of the notes too low and I can't get the right chords and I-" She was too busy rambling to notice Gray approach her.

"Juvia," Gray rested his hand on her shoulder, which caused Juvia to immediately shut up. "Even if you don't think so, I think that you sounded amazing."

Juvia tucked a loose cerulean curl behind her ear, bashfully looking up at Gray. "You think so?" She asked.

Gray nodded, smiling reassuringly at Juvia. "I know so,"

Juvia looked back down at her lap. She was always told by the people who attended her concerts that she was very talented, and she was always more than thankful to hear from her fellow fans, but hearing this praise from Gray made Juvia feel as if there were butterflies inside of her stomach. "T-thank you," She mumbled, stumbling on her words.

"Is this what you were talking about earlier?" Gray asked.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah. I'm in a band, Black Steel Gajeel and the Element Four."

"Oh, I've heard of them before." Gray commented. "I knew Gajeel's name sounded familiar."

"Yeah, it's not often you find someone named Gajeel, huh?" Juvia chuckled. "We're performing at a local venue, but I can't find any sheet music for the song I was singing earlier, which is one of the songs we're performing. I'm much better at learning music by reading it than by listening to it, so it's kind of really hard to figure out what the chords are," She pouted.

"I don't know anything about music," Gray admitted. "But can you show me what you have so far?" He asked.

Juvia nodded. "You can use Gajeel's chair over there," She told him. Gray grabbed the chair and pulled it up next to Juvia, sitting down. "So," She started, setting her right hand on the piano. "For the first verse you play a C flat, E, A, E, and then repeat A, E two more times." With each note she named she hovered her fingers over the keys. "Like this," She then played the sequence she had described.

"Can I hear you sing along with it?" Gray asked.

Juvia thought for a moment. "I'll sing if you learn it along with me."

"Um," Gray looked down at the black and white keys. "I don't know anything, though."

"I'll teach you!" Juvia cheered, smiling hopefully at Gray.

Gray looked at Juvia and her positive expression and was instantly sold. "Okay then," He agreed.

"Yay!" Juvia's smile widened. She turned her gaze to the keys. "Alright, this key," She held her thumb over a black key. "Is known as either C flat or D sharp. We'll call it C flat for now," She watched as Gray put his thumb on A flat. "No, its two black keys up."

Gray went towards the left of the piano, pressing D. "Oops," He pressed D flat. "Like that?"

"Other way," Juvia corrected. Gray put his thumb on C flat. "Good, now place your second finger on E," She instructed, placing her pointer finger on the E key. Gray placed his middle finger on the D key. "Oh, um, in Piano your second finger for your right hand is your pointer finger. And that's D."

"Sorry," Gray apologized, placing his pointer finger on D flat.

"No, that's D flat. E is the white key next to the D flat. Look at my finger," Juvia told him, hovering her pointer finger over the E placed his pointer finger on the E key. "Good, now place your pinky on A," She wiggled her pinky over the A key.

Gray looked at her pinky then back at the keyboard and blinked. "There's no way I'm gonna find that A key," He commented, staring at the keys in confusion.

Juvia sighed. A sudden idea popped into her mind, and she reached her hand over to rest on top of his. "Hold your pinky out underneath of mine," She instructed the raven-haired man, holding her pinky out on top of the A.

Gray moved his pinky underneath hers. "This key?" He asked, pressing down the A key.

Juvia nodded. "Yeah! Now, as I was saying earlier, the notes to the first verse are C flat, E, A, E, A, E, A, E. You play C flat, then E, and then repeat A and E three times." She explained, pushing down his fingers at the same time she said the notes.

As Juvia taught him the notes, every now and then she would sing along. Each time she sang, Gray would instantly be mesmerized, his thoughts drifting away from the keyboard and onto Juvia's melodic voice. Every time Juvia would turn to look at him, he would quickly look away and pretend as if he were looking at the keys, which Juvia easily fell for.

After a few minutes of playing together, Juvia pulled her hand away from Gray's. "That's all I know so far." She told him, a slightly disappointed look on her face. "I'm trying to learn the next two chords and then I'm done for the chorus, but it's hard."

"Can I hear the song? I can try to help," Gray offered.

Juvia nodded, grabbing her phone and playing the song. "Listen closely," She told him, skipping to the part she was on.

Gray did as she told him, listening to the chord being pushed. "Hm.." He hummed. Without thinking, he played a D chord, then lowered his middle finger to play a Dm chord, and went back to the A chord at the start of the chorus. "I'm not sure if that's right, I just played something." Gray told her. "How was it-" He looked up at the cerulean-haired woman only to pause. "Uh, are you okay?" He asked.

Juvia blinked, her sapphire eyes completely blank. "Can you play that again?" She asked. Gray played the chords as she had asked. Juvia played through the chords of the chorus, singing along. After finishing the chorus, she stared blankly at the piano.

"Juvia?" Gray asked.

Juvia played the chords again, and without warning, she let out a squeal. Gray let out a little yelp at the sudden noise, confused. Juvia wrapped her arms around Gray, hugging him tightly as a big smile encompassed her face. "_Thankyouthankyouthankyou!_" She squealed, the words coming out of her mouth jumbling together.

While Gray was happy that Juvia was hugging him, he was confused. "Did I get it?" He asked.

Juvia pulled away from the hug. "Yes!" She exclaimed. "You got it perfectly! How did you do that?" She asked.

Gray shrugged. "I heard the notes he played in the chord- they were from different chords from earlier." He explained.

Juvia blinked. "How did you hear the D?" She asked.

"I pressed it by accident while learning the first few notes to the song." Gray answered.

Juvia stared at him, the same blank expression on her face. "You mean to tell me, that you were able to tell what the chord was just by hearing it?" She asked.

"Uh… I guess?" Gray's answer was more of a question.

"You mean to tell me that _you,_ someone who has no experience in music at all?" Juvia raised an eyebrow, pausing her sentence.

"At all," Gray confirmed.

"No experience in music _at all,_" Juvia continued, the disbelief evident in her voice and in her eyes. "Has _perfect pitch?_"

"What's that?" Gray asked.

"_Holy shit,_" Juvia laughed. "No way,"

"Wait, what's perfect pitch?" Gray asked, confused.

"The ability to tell what notes are by simply hearing them." Juvia explained.

Gray raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Isn't that normal?" He asked.

"_No!_" Juvia exclaimed, laughing. "Even some of the most exceptional musicians struggle with that! And here you are doing it as if its nothing!"

"So, I'm special?" Gray asked.

Juvia nodded. "Extremely. I might have to ask for your help more often," She joked. "That's so unbelievable, though." There was awe in Juvia's tone of voice. "It's so cool, too! I've never met anyone like you, before."

"I've never met anyone like you, before, either." Gray replied, smiling at Juvia.

"Huh?" Juvia tilted her head slightly to the side.

Gray slinked his arm around Juvia's waist. "You're incredibly talented," He complimented. He gently grabbed her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "And incredibly beautiful, too." He mumbled inaudibly.

Even though she only heard the first part, Juvia's face heated up. She averted her eyes from his gaze. "You're just overestimating me,"

"And you're just underestimating my words," Gray replied.

Juvia looked back at Gray. "Gray," She sighed, tilting her head slightly to the side. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she leaned forward slightly. Gray had started to lean forward too, their lips merely centimeters apart…

...Until the loud sound of a phone ringing caused the two of them to jump away from each other, letting out startled yelps as their eyes widened in surprise.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I'm going to Orlando on Saturday and I'm probably gonna be there the whole day, so the next chapter might be short! Without the author's note, this chapter is exactly 2k words! It's a short chapter, but it's a happy one! :)**

**WE GOT 5 REVIEWS ON CHAPTER 21! WOOHOO! Shoutout to Ushindeshi and Juviafullbuster 1, our usual reviewers! And a _BIG _shoutout to _three _new reviewers: hiccstridhumour, Guest, and aliciaevbra! You three really made me so happy! Hiccstrid and Guest, your reviews were funny to read and made me laugh a little- I felt kinda bad for laughing, though, but it's kind of fun to constantly stop Gray and Juvia from kissing xD And it was nice having a little conversation with you, Alicia! I enjoyed that a lot! Thank you all five of you for reviewing! You guys made me so happy! To all you other readers out there, please review! I'd love to have more people join the review squad! :D (Also, if you don't want a shoutout, you can just ask and I won't put you in.)**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Levy_

Levy happily walked through Magnolia, humming to herself as she made her way to a store. She was going to buy a story coloring book and some coloring supplies for an asmr video she was going to do. A lot of her viewers had requested her to make a video about drawing or writing, but Levy wasn't all that good at either of the two.

She had looked through youtube and saw some people make videos with story coloring books- something which Levy never knew existed. Levy loved the idea, so naturally, she'd go out and buy one for her next video.

Despite not having an actual job, Levy made quite a lot of money from her videos. She had her linked in her description, and quite a few people would leave donations here and there. Some people would even make monthly donations to her. Out of random donations and monthly payments, she usually made more off of monthly payments. Out of her 100k subscribers, which was an accomplishment she was really proud of, 750 people made monthly donations to her. Sometimes she'd get random donations, and once she got a random donation for $500!

Needless to say, Levy made a good amount of money for a college student. Alongside her patrons, her subscriber count was rising as well, ever since a popular asmrtist mentioned her in one of their videos.

As Levy strolled down the sidewalk she passed by Iowa's flower shop and came to a stop. She hadn't seen Iowa in a while, maybe she should say hi. Levy went inside the store, looking around. She smiled a little, seeing the orange diascias that Gajeel had got her on the display window.

"Levy?" A voice asked.

Levy turned her head to see a plump, tan man holding a flower pot in his hands. His face looked familiar and his voice sounded familiar as well, but Levy couldn't quite place where she had heard it before. "Yes?" She asked. The man didn't say anything, just stared at her. "Oh, do you know where Iowa is?"

"She's out back," The man answered. "Do you… remember me?" He asked, setting the pot down.

Levy shook her head. "Not really," She answered. "You seem kind of familiar, though."

"Oh," The man frowned. "We used to be good friends."

Levy furrowed her eyebrows. She only had four people in her life who she considered good friends; Gajeel, Juvia, Jet, and… "Droy?" Levy asked, her eyebrows raising and her eyes widening in realization.

"Yeah," Droy nodded. "It's me, Droy."

Levy smiled. "Droy!" She cheered, going up to her old friend and hugging him. "It's been a while," She commented, pulling away from the quick hug. "How have you been."

"G-good," Droy answered, caught off guard by her gesture. "How about y-you?" He asked.

"I've been good!" Levy told him. "This past week has been pretty good, for the most part."

"T-that's good," Droy mumbled, fumbling around with his hands.

"Are you okay?" Levy asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. "You seem a little o-"

"I-I'm sorry!" Droy suddenly exclaimed, cutting Levy off.

Levy blinked, confused. "Why are you apologizing?" She asked.

"Because I left you," Droy answered, a sad look in his eyes. "Even after all we've been through, I let the cruel words of our old friends push us away. I should've been there to support you, but I wasn't," He started to tear up slightly.

Levy smiled at him. "It's okay! Don't cry! Sure, it made me sad when you and Jet stopped talking to me," She admitted. "But that doesn't mean I didn't forgive you,"

"Y-you forgive me?" Droy asked.

Levy nodded. "I forgave you a long time ago." She told him. "You know I'm not one to hold grudges,"

Without warning, Droy enveloped Levy into a bear hug. "Thank you, Levy!" He sobbed, hugging his friend tightly.

Levy hugged Droy in return. "I'm glad we're friends again," She admitted.

Droy pulled away, nodding vigorously. "M-me too!"

"Um, am I interrupting something?" A feminine voice caused Droy and Levy to look up. Standing in front of the back door with two dirt-filled pots in her hands was none other than the store owner herself, Iowa.

"Iowa!" Levy cheered.

"Hey girl," Iowa greeted, setting the pots down on a nearby table. She went up to the bluenette and hugged her friend. Pulling away from the hug, she looked at Droy, then back at Levy. "Are you two dating?" She asked.

Levy shook her head. "No, I have a boyfriend." She answered.

"You have a boyfriend?" Iowa and Droy asked at the same time, Droy much more surprised than Iowa was.

"Yeah," Levy nodded. "His name's Gajeel. He actually came in here yesterday and bought me those orange diascias."

Iowa blinked. "Wait… Does he have a ton of piercings?" She asked.

Levy laughed a little. "Yeah, he's kinda hard to miss. Lots of hair, very tall."

Iowa's eyes lit up. "I helped him at the register the other day! You two would totally look cute together!" She fangirled.

"Quit gassing me up," Levy waved her hand dismissively. "How are you and Ziggy?" She asked.

"Not to flex or anything, but," Iowa held up her hand to reveal an engagement ring. "I'd say we're pretty good," She winked.

Levy squealed. "That's so cute! Congratulations!" She cooed. "When's the wedding?"

"Soon," Iowa answered. "I sent the invite, you should get it soon. Also," Iowa lowered her voice to a whisper. "You can bring Gajeel if you'd like," She winked.

Levy nodded. "I can't wait!" She exclaimed. She then looked down at her watch. "It was nice catching up with you," Levy then turned to Droy. "You too, Droy! I'm going to head out now, bye guys!" She headed for the exit.

"Bye, girl!" Iowa called out after Levy, picking up the pots.

"Bye, Levy!" Droy's voice was the last she heard before the door behind her closed.

Levy continued her journey to the craft store, happily humming to herself. It didn't take long to get to the craft store from the flower shop. Entering the shop, Levy made her way over to an open cash register. "Excuse me, do you have story coloring books?" She asked the cashier.

"Oh, Yeah, in the aisle right across from the wall," The cashier pointed her to the aisle. "Coloring supplies are on the wall, too."

"Thank you!" Levy smiled at the cashier, making her way over to the aisle. She grabbed a 24-pack of Crayola colored pencils and then turned to the coloring books. Seeing that they were just regular coloring books, she walked further down the aisle until she got to the story coloring books. Levy's eyes scanned across the shelves, looking around. There was a specific one that people were commenting about, The Time Garden.

After a minute of scanning with her eyes, Levy found the book. Naturally, it was on the top shelf, which was too high for Levy to reach. Sighing, Levy reached up for the book, not even coming close to it. She stood up on her tippy toes, stretching her arm out further, but she was still out of reach of the book.

"Let me help you with that," A friendly voice greeted Levy's ears. She lowered her feet back onto the ground and watched as a hand grabbed the book off of the top shelf, handing it to Levy.

"Thank you!" Levy smiled, turning to the kind stranger. Her eyes widened. "No way, Jet?" She asked.

The orange-haired man grinned. "It's been a while, huh, Levy?" He asked.

"Jet!" Levy exclaimed, hugging her other old friend tightly.

Jet laughed slightly, wrapping his arms around Levy's small figure and returning the hug. "Hi, Levy."

Levy pulled away from the hug, smiling excitedly. "I just ran into Droy earlier, and now I run into you!" She told him. "What a coincidence! How have you been?"

"I've been good," Jet answered, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Still training for that gold medal?" Levy asked.

Jet nodded, a big, toothy grin plastered onto his face. "You know it!" He winked, throwing a thumbs up. "And you still reading those books?"

Levy nodded. "Always." She affirmed.

"And what about your…" Jet paused. "What was it, asmr channel?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Yeah, it's going good!" Levy exclaimed. "I came here to get a story coloring book and some colored pencils for a video," She told him, gesturing to the book.

"How many subs do you have?" Jet asked.

"I have 100k subscribers!" Levy exclaimed.

Jet's eyes widened. "That's a lot," He said, clearly shocked. "I'm sorry I didn't support you on that," He apologized.

Levy shook her head. "It's fine!" She assured him.

"No, really. As an apology, I'll buy your stuff for you." Jet offered.

"Oh, no, that's not necessary!" Levy tried protesting, but he took the coloring book and colored pencils from her hand.

"No, I insist." Jet walked over to the register, Levy following suit. He placed down Levy's two items and some packs of sticky notes.

"Sticky notes?" Levy asked.

"Yeah, I go too fast for my own good so maybe sticky notes will help me keep better track of my life." Jet explained. "And since I was near here I decided I'd go get some."

Levy nodded. "That's actually smart," She commented.

"I know, right?" Jet grinned. After paying, he grabbed the bag. "Where are you going now?" He asked.

"Home," Levy answered. "I have to make my new video."

"I'll walk with you." Jet took the sticky notes out of the bag and stuck them in his pocket, handing the bag to Levy.

"Okay!" Levy chirped, taking the bag and walking alongside Jet out of the store. As they walked and talked, they passed by the flower shop to see Droy stepping out of the store. "Hi, Droy!"

"Hey!" Jet greeted his friend.

"Oh, hey guys!" Droy smiled at the two. "My shift just ended."

"Cool!" Levy smiled.

"Wanna join Levy and I?" Jet asked. "I was walking her home."

Droy nodded. "Sure!" He agreed.

Together, the three of them walked down the sidewalks of Magnolia, talking about their current lives and reminiscing about the old days when it was just the three of them. They laughed together at funny stories and old inside jokes they had that they still found funny. Eventually, they made it back to the campus.

"I'm so glad I got to see both of you today!" Levy smiled happily at her two friends.

"Yeah!" Droy nodded. "Me too!"

"We should do this again sometime!" Jet suggested happily.

"Definitely!" Levy agreed. "You guys wanna take a picture for old time's sake?" She asked. Jet and Droy nodded excitedly, and Levy pulled out her phone. She opened her phone to the camera, switching it to the front camera and holding it landscape. "Smile for the camera!" She cheered, smiling at the camera alongside Jet and Droy as she snapped a photo.

Levy turned her phone back to portrait to look at the photo. "It's perfect, guys!" She told them. "See you two soon?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the side and smiling at her friends.

Droy's face tinted pink. "Y-yeah!"

"Team Shadow Gear?" Jet held his arm out in front of him, raising his hand up and bending it slightly backwards.

"Team Shadow Gear!" Levy and Droy chorused, mimicking his actions and forming a triangle with their fingertips. The three of them pulled their arms away. "Bye, guys!" Levy waved to them, heading off to her dorm building. As she walked, opened the messages on her phone. _Gajeel, you'll never guess what just happened!_ She sent, entering the dorm building and walking to the elevator.

_Hm?_ Gajeel replied after a minute.

Levy sent the picture of her, Jet, and Droy. _I ran into these two earlier today and now we're friends again! I'm so happy!_


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note: I'm back from Orlando! I had so much fun visiting family! Although, it took up a lot of my time, so because of that this chapter's out a little later and in general is a little shorter than I'd like it to be. I hope everyone had a wonderful mother's day. Even though the two characters in this chapter never had mother figures, they're still more than appreciative of their father figures; and if they had mothers then they'd be grateful for them as well. Shout out to HurricaneGlitter, aliciacevbra, Ushindeshi, and LordofAnimeCrap for reviewing. Thank you four so much! Your reviews made me so happy :D**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Wendy_

"I, I wanted to ask if… If… If I could do your hair!" Wendy asked. Erza blinked. "It's so pretty and I never had any girl friends until this year so I never got to do other people's hair." She continued, explaining herself.

Erza smiled. "Well, sure. I don't mind."

Wendy's eyes lit up. "Thank you! Let me get my brushes!" Wendy quickly ran up the stairs, heading into her room. Wendy went to her desk and opened her drawer, revealing all of her hair supplies and make-up products. Wendy grabbed some hair ties, a mirror, a comb with a long end, and a brush; closing the drawer and heading back downstairs.

"Can you sit on the floor?" Wendy asked, leaping off the last step and turning into the living room.

"Yeah, sure," Erza slid off of the sofa, sitting on the floor with her legs crossed.

Wendy hopped onto the sofa, resting her legs so they weren't touching Erza. "Are you tender-headed?" She asked.

Erza shrugged. "I'm not sure." She answered. "I never actually do my hair," She admitted. "I wash it every other day and every now and then I trim it but other than that I don't really brush it."

"Really?" Wendy asked, running her hand through Erza's silky hair. "It feels so soft and it doesn't look tangled at all."

"Yeah, I guess I got lucky with my hair." Erza mused. "I never had any problems with it. People always told me I had pretty hair, too."

"Because you do!" Wendy confirmed, running a comb through Erza's scarlet hair. "It's not often you see someone with hair like yours. From the fact that it's not tangled at all to the magnificent color it has- is it naturally scarlet?" Wendy asked, taking the long end of the comb and starting to part Erza's hair.

"Yeah," Erza told her. "I never once thought about dying it. I've had this hair since day one."

"Who'd you get your hair from?" Wendy asked, finishing up Erza's part.

"Huh?" Erza asked.

"Oh, sorry, I meant, which one of your parents did you get your hair from?" Wendy corrected herself.

"Honestly," Erza started. "I never met my parents." She admitted. "Rob was my adoptive father, and I knew that because he was simply too old to be my real dad. He could've been my grandpa, but I just had a feeling that we weren't related."

"Oh, I'm sorry for asking." Wendy apologized. "Also, which hairstyle would you like?" She asked.

"Any style will be fine with me," Erza told Wendy. "And you're fine. You had no way of knowing."

Wendy took a section of Erza's soft hair, dividing it into three equal parts. "To be honest," She started braiding the hair. "I don't know my parents either."

"Jellal's not your real dad?" Erza asked.

Wendy shook her head, taking some of Erza's hair and braiding it in. "No. He's 27, I'm 14. If he were my real dad he would've had me when he was 13, which would be impossible." She explained to Erza. "He adopted me when I was 7, and when he was 20."

"How do you remember that?" Erza asked. "I have a hard time remembering stuff from last month," She laughed slightly.

"Same," Wendy laughed as well. "But, I'm not sure. It's kinda weird, though, because I feel as if I've known him for longer than I've actually had."

"How so?" Erza asked.

"My memory's cloudy because it was from long ago, but I think I remember seeing him years before he actually adopted me." Wendy answered.

"Huh. Are you sure it's just not from the times you met him before he decided to adopt you?" Erza questioned.

"At this point, I don't even know," Wendy sighed. She grabbed one of her hair ties and tied up the end of the french braid. "I don't even remember being in an adoption center. But I could've sworn that I had seen him before he adopted me." She placed the finished braid over Erza's shoulder.

"Who knows?" Erza looked at the braid on her shoulder. "Wow," She grabbed the braid gently with her hand, observing the braid with a look of awe on her face. "This is really pretty, you did such an amazing job!"

"Really?" Wendy asked. "Thank you so much!" She smiled brightly. "Just wait till I finish the other side."

"What style did you do?" Erza asked. "Braids?"

"French braids, yes." Wendy answered. She took a section of Erza's hair, dividing it into three. "Did you have any siblings?" Wendy asked.

"I don't think I had any biological siblings. I didn't have any siblings when I lived with Rob, either. Though I had, and still have, two close friends who are like brothers to me."

"I didn't have any siblings either, I don't think." Wendy started braiding Erza's hair, adding some hair into the sections as she continued. "It was just you and Rob?"

"Just Rob and I." Erza confirmed.

"Yeah, it's just been Jellal and I for me." Wendy added. "Ultear and Meredy would come to visit every now and then, but other than that there was no one else. Jellal raised me all on his own."

Erza smiled. "I think he did a good job, you're wonderful,"

"Aww, thank you," Wendy cooed. "Though, sometimes I feel bad." She admitted.

Erza hummed in confusion. "How so?" She asked.

"He's always been focused on other people, whether its work or whether it's me." Wendy sighed. "He never makes time for himself. He's never dated anyone, either, and I'm fairly sure he thinks that the only women who exist are Ultear, Meredy, Belno, you, and I."

"What if he likes guys?" Erza asked. "You know there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yeah, I'm bi myself." Wendy told Erza. "But he doesn't seem like the type to swing that way, or at any way at this rate."

"Well, what if he's happy the way he is? You can't force love upon someone." Erza pointed out.

"Of course not!" Wendy exclaimed. She grabbed another hair tie and started tying up the end of the other braid. "Just, wouldn't it get kind of lonely after a while?" She asked, setting the finished braid over Erza's shoulder.

"Well, I guess that you could be right about that." Erza mused. She smiled at the braid. "Can I see how I look?" She asked.

"Of course!" Wendy handed Erza the mirror.

Erza looked at her reflection, raising her eyebrows in surprise. The french braids looked rather good on her. "It looks pretty," She commented, moving the mirror around.

"You think so?" Wendy asked, hopeful.

Erza nodded. "I know so. Good job."

"Thank you!" Wendy's face lit up. "You can keep it like that for a few days, and when you take it out it'll be all curly!"

Erza hummed. "I wonder how that would look." She hummed.

"Oh, I meant to ask this earlier, but your hair's naturally straight, right?" Wendy asked.

Erza nodded, getting up from the floor. "Yeah." A thought occurred in Erza's mind. "Hey, you hungry?"

Wendy blinked. "A little," She admitted.

"How about cake for dinner?" Erza offered, a slight smile on her face.

"Huh?" Wendy asked. "Really?"

"Yeah," Erza nodded. "I plan to start a bakery, and I thought it'd be fun to bake a cake with you."

Wendy's eyes lit up. "Sweet!" She cheered. "Jellal would never let me have cake for dinner!"

"Well, he's not here now, is he?" Erza asked, raising a brow.

Wendy shook her head. "No, it's just the two of us."

"Come on, then," Erza started walking towards the kitchen. "This cake isn't gonna bake itself, now, is it?"

Wendy happily followed Erza into the kitchen, excitement radiating off of her.

If there was one thing about Erza that Wendy liked, it was that she was rather chill. She was hardworking, like Jellal was, but also knew how to have a little fun, unlike her dad did.

The two girls had just finished making icing for their cake while they were waiting for it in the oven. "Can I try some?!" Wendy asked enthusiastically.

Erza nodded. "Just try not to eat all of it," She winked.

Wendy dipped her finger into the strawberry icing, licking the cream off of her fingertip. Her eyes instantly lit up. "This is so good!" Wendy exclaimed. "You're such an awesome baker!"

Erza smiled at the teen. "Hey, don't forget about the fact that you helped me." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but it was mostly you." Wendy replied.

"I think we're both good bakers," Erza held up her hand.

"Yeah!" Wendy high fived Erza's hand. "Um, hey Erza?" She asked, her demeanor suddenly changing to a more shy one.

"Hm?" Erza hummed. "What's up?"

"About what I said earlier, while I was doing your hair," Wendy started, not sure how to finish her sentence. "Could you… Could you maybe…" She trailed off.

"Go on," Erza pressed.

"It's just, I don't want Jellal to feel so lonely. I was gonna ask if maybe you'd be the one to be there for him?" Wendy asked. "That probably doesn't even make sense, sorry. It's just that both of your personalities go well together, and I think that maybe you could make him truly happy. Also," Her voice grew more quiet. "You two would look kinda cute together," She admitted.

Erza let out a small laugh at Wendy's question and explanation. "Wendy, I'm fully convinced that you're too pure for this world." She sighed, patting Wendy's head with her hand. "If only the world could be as simple as you see it,"

Wendy blinked, looking up at Erza. "Hm?"

"It's much more complicated than you'd think, Wendy; though I do respect your efforts." Erza told Wendy, removing her hand from the teen's straight, dark blue hair.

"Can you at least try?" Wendy requested. "Maybe it'll make you happy, too." She added.

Erza hummed, staring off into the distance. "Maybe," Was all that she had said, her expression blank and her tone unreadable.


	24. Chapter 24

**Me: If what I wrote so far is more than 2k words then I'll just publish it like this and leave the readers at another cliffhanger**

**This chapter: *1996 words***

**My friend: *laughing as I internally and slightly externally scream in frustration***

**Author's Note: I hope y'all enjoyed my meme lol- but that's a summary of what happened this morning haha xD This chapter is the shortest Natsu chapter I've ever written, and tbh it's not even that short it's a little less than average chapter is (2.8k words) Shout out to the review squad making a comeback: Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, and LordofAnimeCrap for reviewing! Also, shoutout to aliciacevbra and Guest for leaving a review! Thank you five so much!**

**Guest: While it is _biologically _possible, this story isn't quite in the middle age ;) Also, Jellal isn't ace, he's just a socially awkward straight guy and we need to take a moment to appreciate that because who doesn't stan a socially awkward Jellal?**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Natsu_

"Natsu, my boy," Makarov started, his stern facial expression unreadable.

"Y-yes?" Natsu squeaked, feeling his skin turn pale as a cold sweat slowly creeping down his skin.

"Have a seat." Makarov gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk.

"Aye sir," Natsu mumbled. In the blink of an eye, he was sitting in the chair.

"Now," Makarov crossed his arms. "Tell me what happened," Natsu mumbled something incoherent, and a tick mark appeared on Makarov's forehead. "I said tell me what happened_ not_ mumble me what happened."

"I got into a fight." Natsu told Makarov.

"I'm not blind." Makarov shook his head. "Tell me the details." He urged.

"Fine, fine," Natsu sighed. "It was yesterday, right after I left your office. I decided to go to the lab since I was here anyway, when I heard some people in the hallway." He explained. "It was this guy, he pinned this girl to the wall and was trying to convince her to get with him. I actually met that girl a few days ago, she's really nice, and I could tell that she was uncomfortable because that's just not the kind of person who she was. So, I told him to get off of her, but he didn't listen. I guess a part of me just snapped and we started fighting."

Makarov closed his eyes, nodding slowly. "Who started it?" He asked.

"I did," Natsu answered. "and I finished it too." He looked down at his bandaged fist. "Also, if I'm being completely honest, I feel as if something's off." He admitted, turning his hand and unclenching his fist.

"What do you mean?" Makarov asked.

Natsu leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Makarov shook his head, his eyes still closed. "Not necessarily. Scorpio told me about an incident with you, a girl named Lucy, and a guy named Bora. Does that sound about right?"

Natsu nodded. "Yes. Bora was harassing Lucy so I beat his ass." He growled. "Do whatever you want to me, I don't care what punishment I get. Just make sure that that bastard gets the same punishment too, if not worse."

"You know very well I do not condone fighting on school grounds, Natsu." Makarov started, sighing to himself. "It is bad for not only you and the other person fighting, but it damages the school as well. Words can barely describe how I feel right now, but I can say…"

A moment of silence passed between the two, Natsu feeling his soul slip away as the anticipation slowly killed him. Makarov suddenly shot open his eyes. "Good job, my boy!"

Natsu blinked. That was _not even close_ to what he was expecting. "_Huh?_" He asked, verbalizing his surprise.

"You showed that guy what he deserved!" Makarov hit Natsu's arm. "You admitted that you started the fight, and to top it off you then stood up for your actions, telling me that you don't care what punishment you get!"

"So I don't have a punishment?" Natsu asked, his eyes lighting up as he straightened his posture.

"Of course you have a punishment, you dumbass," Makarov laughed heartily as he watched Natsu slump back into his seat and let out a sigh of defeat at Makarov's words. "You gotta clean up that bloody mess you made in the hall, and then you gotta do some community service."

Natsu shrugged. "Fair enough." He nodded, accepting his punishment.

"I'll send you more details about your community service, but for now, go to that hallway and get cleaning, champ!" Makarov cheered. As Natsu got up from his seat, Makarov cleared his throat. "And remember," He started. "Never stop fighting for what's right." He paused, watching as Natsu reached to open the door. "Oh, and also at least bring the fight outside of campus grounds!" He called out to Natsu before the pinkette closed the door behind him.

Natsu sighed to himself. "At least I get to miss English," He said, making his way to the hall where the fight had broken out.

* * *

Cleaning the hall didn't take long at all that morning, and other than that Natsu's day went by like any normal day, aside from his concerned teachers and nosy classmates asking how his face got so beat up. Natsu ignored them, but somehow rumor still spread that he got into a fight with Bora.

Maybe someone was there when the fight went on, or maybe someone saw Bora's beat up face as well. If one thing was for certain to his peers, it was that Natsu was the one who won the fight.

Natsu wouldn't exactly call himself proud of winning such a fight, especially since Lucy was there to watch him, but all he cared about was that, hopefully, Bora would finally learn a lesson and stay the hell away from Lucy- and other women, too.

Natsu walked through the streets of Magnolia, the hood of his hoodie hanging over his head as he strolled with his hands in his pockets. Natsu hung his head down low, avoiding the gazes of people passing by him. He walked alone, the fellow pedestrians slowly dropping in number as he got closer to his destination.

After a few more minutes of walking, he looked up. In front of him stood a towering black gate that loomed above his head by feet. He looked up at the very top of the gate, his hoodie falling off of his head and resting on the back of his neck.

Natsu lowered his head to the lock directly in front of him. There was an old sign above the lock, rust gathering around the edges. In an almost-faded handwriting was a saying.

_Do not let a mere obstacle stop you from being with the ones you love most_

Natsu had read the saying all too many times- it had been implanted into his memory. Whether the saying was just a fancy way of saying that the lock was broken and the door was open, or whether it had a much deeper meaning, was beyond anything that Natsu could ever begin to ponder.

With a hand as light as a feather, he slowly reached for the gate. He gingerly wrapped his fingers around one of the solid bars, lightly tugging on the bar and slowly pulling the gate open. With each inch he moved the gate, the gate let out a soft groan, squeaking as the hinges ached.

As soon as the gate was open wide enough, Natsu slipped past it, letting the gate go and walking away from the entrance. The weight of the gate made it close with a loud clang, though Natsu paid it no mind.

The path that Natsu walked was a path that was all too familiar to him. A cool breeze that made his scarf sway in the wind flew by him in the direction of his true destination, almost as if it was giving him guidance. He had walked this path so many times that he was fairly convinced he could walk it with his eyes closed.

The crisp crunch of the leaves under his shoes and the whistle of the wind around him was nothing more than mere background noise as he trudged forth. This journey pained him every time, but it was even more painful not to take it.

Suddenly, Natsu stopped. He slowly lowered his head down, looking at the beautiful slab of stone that had been carefully placed into the ground. The words carved into the slate were reminiscent of bittersweet memories from only years ago.

_In loving memory of Lisanna Strauss_

_Forever in our minds and forever in our hearts_

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Natsu asked, gently lowering his knee to the grass beneath him. He gently put his hand on top of the tombstone, staring at the intricately carved words with a sadness that dwelled deep within him.

The cool breeze brushed past Natsu, sending a shiver throughout his body. Natsu sighed, shifting himself so that he was sitting cross-legged in front of the tomb. "I wish you were still here." He whispered, his voice soft.

He shifted his gaze from the tombstone to his hands, looking at the bandages that decorated his right fist. "I should have been there," He watched as his hands started to shake ever so slightly.

"I shouldn't have listened to you. I shouldn't have believed you. I shouldn't have trusted you." Natsu clenched his fists, his hands shaking even more violently. "Now look at where we are," He voice took on a more angry tone as he laughed dryly, running one of his hands through his hair. "I'm bruised and broken and you're _dead._" He spat, glaring at the way the green grass shone.

"And it's all my fault…" Natsu continued, his voice returning to its soft, solemn tone. "If I would've stepped in, he wouldn't have killed you," He mumbled, a droplet of water falling onto the bare skin of his left hand. He looked down at his hand. _Was it raining? _He thought to himself, the thought slicing through the thick silence around him.

Natsu looked up at the sky, another droplet of water falling onto his cheek, rolling down his neck. Natsu closed his eyes, feeling the droplets of rain collide with his skin. "Is that you, Lisanna?" He asked, opening his eyes and staring into the sky. He hadn't noticed the gray clouds looming in the blue sky. "Have you come to listen to me lament?"

The rain continued at its slow and steady pace. "Well, in that case, something happened yesterday." Natsu turned his gaze back onto the tombstone, his onyx eyes observing the droplets falling onto the slate and darkening it. "It reminded me of that day from three years ago."

Natsu felt a hot raindrop roll down his cheek, and then another. He blinked, wiping the drops from his cheek. These weren't raindrops, but instead salty tears that had unknowingly sprung to his eyes. "I wish I could've done the same for you," He started. "With you, I decided to trust your judgment and not stick my nose in where it didn't belong. With her, I didn't want history to repeat itself, so-" He paused, taking a shaky breath.

"I stepped in. I fought that guy as hard as I could. I started the fight and I won it. I didn't only do it for her, but I did it for you, too. I wish I could've done the same for you," Natsu repeated his statement from earlier. "I wish I wasn't naive, I wish I-I could've d-done the same… for… y-you…" Natsu's voice slowed down as he lowered his head, the tears falling onto the grass and mixing into the raindrops.

Natsu sat on the grass in a bitter silence for a few moments, his eyes focused on the greenery beneath him. He saw the raindrops around him but he felt the rain stop pelting him from the sky. He heard the wind but he couldn't feel it. Everything had froze. The only thing Natsu was focused on was the wind. It almost sounded as if it was calling his name.

"_Natsu,_" The wind whistled.

"Is that you?" Natsu asked, not looking up.

"_I'm right behind you,_" The wind called out to the pinkette once again.

Natsu shook his head. "I'm going crazy," He convinced himself.

"_I'm right behind you._" The wind repeated.

Natsu looked up, his eyes widening in confusion. What was a cloudy sky was now a black shape- _an umbrella?_\- hanging over him and obscuring his view. On the handle of the umbrella was a pale hand. Natsu's eyes trailed from the hand, to the arm, to the shoulder, and then to the face of the person behind him. A sudden wave of astonishment caused Natsu to stumble back, his body falling to the ground as he looked up at the person with eyes wide in terror. A silent gasp escaped his lips as he tried to catch himself. Standing right in front of him was none other than the woman of the tomb who had passed three years ago.

"Lisanna," Natsu whispered, choking on his words.

"Natsu…" Lisanna smiled sadly at Natsu.

"Is that you?" He asked the question he had asked a few times before, but this time he actually meant it.

"Yes, Natsu…" Lisanna whispered, her blue eyes tearing up.

"B-but _how,_" Natsu mumbled, breathless. "It's- it's _impossible,_" He started, running a hand through his hair as he racked his mind for what could be the possible explanation as to Lisanna's sudden appearance. Surely it was some kind of cruel hallucination that his mind had cast upon his sight, _right?_ "This- this can't be _real,_ there's no-"

"_Natsu,_" Lisanna interrupted the pinkette before he could start rambling. "It is real. It's really me."

Natsu was rendered speechless, unable to do anything but stare up at Lisanna. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he slowly got up from the ground, rising to his feet. With small steps, he slowly inched towards the white-haired woman, extending a shaky hand out and caressing her pale cheek. Without warning, he pulled his long lost friend into a tight embrace.

Lisanna dropped the umbrella she was holding in surprise, the item falling to the floor and rolling slightly to the side. She wrapped her small arms tightly around Natsu's back, burying her face into his neck and crying out onto his warm skin. Together, the two cried alongside one another, ignoring the light droplets of water splashing on them and slowly soaking through the fabric of their clothes.

"H-how long have you been here?" Natsu stammered, the salty tears obscuring his vision as they lightly stung his onyx eyes. "How are you even here?" He added. "He-he _killed_ you- there was the knife and the blood an-and-" He cut himself off, his words getting caught in his throat.

"Long enough to hear everything you said to me," Lisanna answered, laughing slightly to lighten the mood. She pulled her face out from Natsu's neck and rested her chin on his shoulder. "He didn't kill me, Natsu." She whispered into his ear, her voice light in the fear that she would break him with a voice any louder. "He missed."

"Th-then why'd you leave?" Natsu asked, holding on tightly to Lisanna. "You-you left behind your family, your friends, you-you left behind _me,_" He whimpered.

"I was scared," Lisanna told Natsu truthfully. "I was scared that if I were to come back then Azuma wouldn't have missed on his second attempt. So, I ran. I ran as far as I could, and I didn't look back because of that fear. And I'm so, so sorry that I couldn't tell you guys," She apologized, more tears streaming down her cheeks as the remorse cast a sinking feeling inside of her stomach.

Natsu was silent for a few moments, unsure of how to respond. He shook his head, deciding that words didn't matter at the moment. "What matters is that you've finally returned," He whispered, holding Lisanna closer than he ever did before.


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late and kinda short update (This chapter is 2k words)! I only had one idea for this chapter until a good 2 hours before I published, oops! I had this idea for a while, but I didn't know when or where I could implement it, and I kind of forgot about it. The name Cashew is an inside joke between my friend and I. I was reading her the first chapter out loud, and she thought I said Cashew instead of Gajeel lmao xD Also, kinda random, but I have a chorus banquet tomorrow! My sister bailed on me :c but since we already bought a ticket for her, I'm bringing my friend instead! I can't wait!**

**Shoutout to Ushindeshi, aliciacevbra, and LordofAnimeCrap for reviewing! And also, a big, _thicc_shoutout to my friend, JustCheese (Guest), for reviewing! I told her if she reviewed I'd give her a big, _thicc_ shoutout, lol!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gray_

"S-sorry," Juvia mumbled, her face flushed red from embarrassment.

"No, it's fine," Gray looked away from Juvia, hiding his embarrassment and slight frustration. "You should probably pick that up," He told her, looking at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Right." Averting her gaze from Gray's dark blue eyes, she reached for her phone. Her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Who is it?" Gray asked.

"Belno," Juvia answered, pressing the accept call button and holding the phone up to her ear. "Hey, mom,"

Gray watched intently from the corner of his eye as Juvia pursed her lips, her eyebrows furrowing in thought. "I'm not sure, let me check. I'll call you back when I'm done." Juvia pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up.

Gray quickly turned his gaze back away. "So, what'd she say?" He asked.

"She told me she was stopping at the grocery store and she asked me if there was anything I needed," Juvia answered, getting up from her seat.

"Is there?" Gray questioned, getting up as well.

"We'll find out," Juvia held onto Gray's hand. "Come,"

Gray obliged, following Juvia down the hall and into her bedroom. She walked up to the fish tank, letting go of Gray's hand and opening the little bottle of fish food. "I need more fish food," She mumbled to herself. She tapped the corner of the tank twice with her finger and once with her nail. "You wanna feed him?" She asked, turning her head to look at Gray.

Gray shrugged. "Sure," He walked up to the fish tank, taking the small container from Juvia's hands. "How much do I feed it?" He asked, looking at the pellets.

"Just a few little pellets." Juvia answered. She hummed, noticing Teru wasn't coming out. She tapped the glass again.

"I think Teru's hiding," Gray commented.

"Yeah, but Teru usually comes out, though." Juvia peered into the tank, trying to spot her fish.

"Maybe he's not hungry?" Gray suggested, looking into the tank as well. He couldn't see any signs of the fish.

"Maybe," Juvia agreed, her eyes still set on the cage.

Gray stared intently at the cage, his eyes skimming over one of the plants and stopping. Oh no. Gray had spotted the fish, its blue scales hiding behind a fake green plant. "Do you see him?" Juvia's voice snapped Gray out of his thoughts.

"Uh…" Gray started, unsure of how to answer Juvia. "Yeah, but…" He bit his lip. "Is he sleeping?" He asked, pointing to the green plant.

Juvia looked into the green plant. "Oh, yeah, Teru's probably just sleeping." She assured Gray. "Look," She told him, tapping the glass. Teru didn't move, however. "Huh," She hummed.

"How old is he?" Gray asked, pulling out his phone. He opened up safari

Juvia thought for a moment. "He's ten. Why?"

Gray typed something into his phone. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the results. "Juvia," Gray started. "Betta fish have an average lifespan of four years."

Juvia gasped. "Four years?!"

"There have been a few instances where some have lived for 10, though." Gray added. He looked at Juvia, the distressed expression on her face making him feel guilty.

"Oh, no, no, no," Juvia opened the tank, grabbing the fake plant by the leaves and tilting it slightly. A gasp of horror escaped her lips as the fish's limp body slid in between the plastic leaves and fell onto the rocks. Juvia held her hands to her mouth, staring sadly at her fish. "Teru no," She whimpered.

The betta fish laid there with cloudy eyes, unmoving. Gray wrapped his arm around Juvia, pulling her close to him. "I'm sorry about Teru," He whispered, hugging the cerulean haired woman.

"It's fine, but it just feels weird…" Juvia admitted, resting her head against Gray's chest. "Earlier this morning Teru was swimming like normal, but now…" She paused her sentence. "That must have been how Erza felt, huh?" She asked, her voice low. "Except, the death of a dad would be much worse than the death of a fish."

"Yeah," Gray agreed, gently taking his hand and stroking her hair.

Juvia sighed, pulling away from the embrace. "I can't just leave Teru there," She reached for a little fish net next to the tank. "Teru's been with me for as long as I've lived here, which is practically for as long as I can remember." Juvia told gray. "I can't believe that after all this time, Teru's finally passed." She stuck the net into the tank, gently scooping up the betta fish.

"How did you not know that bettas normally live for four years?" Gray asked, following Juvia out of her room. "Aren't you a marine bio major?"

Juvia opened the door to the bathroom. "Yeah, but I just never really thought about it." She admitted. "All I knew was that Teru was alive and well, so it never occurred to me. Juvia slowly turned the net over, watching the fish fall into the toilet. She looked sadly at the fish's dead body. "Goodbye, Teru," She mumbled, a few tears welling up in her eyes.

"Nice knowing you," Gray watched as Juvia flushed the toilet, the fish slowly disappearing along with the water. He turned to Juvia, only to see that she was crying slightly. "Hey, don't cry," He gently cupped her cheek, wiping away a stray tear that had started to fall down her cheek with his thumb.

"I wasn't there to say goodbye," Juvia mumbled, looking down at her feet. "Teru was probably so lonely in those final moments."

"At least Teru died peacefully," Gray reasoned. Juvia didn't say anything. "Hey," He gently grabbed her chin, lifting her head so their eyes met. "I know someone who could cheer you up,"

"Who?" Juvia asked.

Gray winked. "It's a secret. But trust me, you'll love him."

Juvia sighed. "Alright," She agreed.

"Let's head out then," Gray smiled at Juvia, letting go of her chin and heading out of the apartment alongside Juvia.

As the two of them walked down the street, Juvia spoke up. "Um, Gray?" She asked.

"What's up?" Gray asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. Juvia was twiddling her thumbs, which Gray found to be rather adorable.

"Can I…" Juvia started, only to cut herself off.

"Go on," Gray encouraged her. "It's okay if you don't want to say it,"

"Can I hold your hand?" Juvia asked, her cheeks turning pink.

Gray smiled in amusement. He held Juvia's hand inside of his, entwining their fingers. "No need to ask," He assured her, lightly squeezing her hand.

* * *

"Is this your place?" Juvia asked, looking up at the house they were standing in front of.

"Yeah," Gray answered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a house key. He inserted the key into the lock, twisting the key until the door made a clicking noise. "Are you ready?" He asked her.

Juvia blinked. "Should I be scared?" She asked.

"A little," Gray teased, pulling out the key and opening the door. "After you," After Juvia had entered the house, Gray followed right behind her, closing the door behind him. Not even a few seconds after the door was closed a jingling noise could be heard coming from down the hallway.

In the blink of an eye, a miniature goldendoodle came running up to the two, letting out a yip at the sight of a new human. Juvia let out a surprised gasp, her facial expression instantly brightening. "Oh my god, it's a puppy!" She exclaimed, lowering herself to her knees.

The light brown ball of fluff ran up to Juvia at full speed, his tail wagging at a quick pace. He sniffed vigorously at her face, and after he was done sniffing he licked her nose. Juvia laughed, petting the dog's head. "He's such a good boy!" She fangirled. "What's his name?" She asked Gray.

"Cashew." Gray answered, smiling as Juvia hugged his dog.

"Cute!" Juvia exclaimed, scratching Cashew behind his ears. "Oh my god I love him," She squealed. "He is such a fluff ball- can he do tricks?" Juvia asked excitedly.

Gray nodded, laughing lightly at Juvia's childlike antics. "Yeah. Cashew, sit." He commanded. Cashew stared at him, tilting his head to the side. "Sit," He repeated, but to no avail.

"Cashew, sit," Juvia tried. Cashew sat down, sticking his tongue out. "Good boy!" Juvia exclaimed, ruffling up his fur. "Shake," She held out her hand to Cashew. Cashew lifted up his paw, placing it on top of Juvia's hand. Another gasp escaped Juvia's lips as a huge smile encompassed her face. "Good boy!" She cooed.

"Why does he listen to you and not to me?" Gray asked, sighing.

"I think he likes me," Juvia hugged Cashew who licked her cheek in reply. "That's it, I'm taking him with me," She started, getting up from the floor while still holding Cashew.

"I think everyone in my family would kill you if you took him," Gray laughed.

"Aww," Juvia pouted, setting Cashew down. Cashew jumped up, standing on his hind legs as he raised his paws up towards Juvia. "Awww," Juvia cooed again, this time more happily. She picked Cashew up again. "It's like the scene from the lion king," She laughed, holding the miniature goldendoodle high up in the air.

"Yeet-" Gray made the exact same pose as Juvia but instead making the motion of throwing the dog.

"I could never!" Juvia exclaimed, lowering Cashew and holding him close to her. "You're cruel,"

Gray laughed. "I don't know, I think he likes it," He flicked the back of Cashew's head, which resulted in Cashew's tail wagging even faster. "Wanna take him on a walk?" Gray offered.

Juvia nodded. "I would love to!" She grinned happily.

Gray grabbed Cashew's leash and a little bag from off of a nearby stand. Juvia set the dog down, and Gray attached the leash onto his dog's collar. "All set," He held out the leash to Juvia, reopening the door behind them.

Juvia happily took it, stepping outside of the house alongside Cashew and Gray. Cashew instantly started sniffing at a nearby plant. "Oh, yeah, he's always too busy sniffing around to even go to the bathroom," Gray informed her.

"How cute," Juvia hummed. "How old is he?"

"Three," Gray answered. "He looks small because he's a miniature goldendoodle."

"Awww," Juvia cooed. "He's so cute I can't get over it!"

As Gray and Juvia walked around the city streets, talking and laughing with one another, they eventually made their way back to Juvia's apartment complex. "Thank you for taking me to meet Cashew," She smiled brilliantly at Gray. "He really did make me feel better." She held out the leash for Gray to take. "As much as I want to keep him, I understand that your family loves him as much as I do."

"Yeah, they're all head over heels." Gray laughed, taking the leash. "And it's no problem,"

"You make it seem as if you're not head over heels for him." Juvia commented, reaching down to give Cashew one last pat on the head. "And I find that pretty hard to believe,"

"I like him," Gray assured her. "But I guess you could say that I'm head over heels for someone else, though." He smirked, leaning forward and giving Juvia a kiss on the cheek. Juvia's face instantly turned pink, his actions rendering her speechless. "See you later, Juvia." Gray winked, walking back home with Cashew.

"B-bye, Gray…" Juvia mumbled, watching as Gray walked off.

After he was out of earshot and out of sight, Gray facepalmed. "Head over heels for someone else?" He asked himself. "What the actual hell was that? That was probably really cringy, wasn't that, Cashew?" He asked the dog.

Cashew made a motion with his head that looked like a nod. Gray sighed. "You could've at least made me feel a little better about myself…" He groaned.


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for the late and short update! Next week is the last week of school, so I'm incredibly busy! I had a chorus banquet yesterday, and it was so fun! I got some awards and ate a bunch of food! I promise that between the last day of school, May 24, and the beginning of June, I will try to go back and edit any chapters that are less than 2.5k words! I'll also update more frequently and more sporadically in the summer! Shoutout to the review squad, Ushindeshi, Juviafullbuster1, LordofAnimeCrap, and the newest member, aliciacevbra (yay!) for reviewing! An even bigger shoutout to two new reviewers, Glitterellife and Pavo Astrum for reviewing! Big thanks to the six of you for reviewing! :D I hope you, alongside all of the other readers, enjoy this rather funny chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Gajeel_

"I think we're pretty good for now," Gajeel decided, stopping the music.

Totomaru nodded. "Yeah, we sounded like straight fire!" He cheered.

Gajeel and Totomaru had been practicing one of the songs they were going to be performing, I'd Rather Drown. In the official recording of the song, alongside some of the other songs, the lead singer was often found singing two parts at once. It might be easy to do that in a studio where it could be edited, but it was impossible to do it at a live performance. Totomaru didn't sing much, but he would gladly sing any other parts needed, so Gajeel was making sure that Totomaru got the right pitch for the song.

"Why don't ya sing more often?" Gajeel asked. "Ya have a good voice,"

Totomaru shrugged. "I don't know, I just wanted to be a synth-pad user more than I wanted to be a singer. I'm much better at synth than I am at singing, anyways."

"Well, you're still a really good singer," Gajeel pointed out. "The fans love you,"

"Really?" Totomaru asked. "I highly doubt that," He scoffed, running his hands through his bi-colored hair and tying it up.

"I'm not kidding." Gajeel tried to convince him. "You rarely sing, so they love it even more whenever you do."

"Let's keep it that way, then," Totomaru huffed.

"Woah, sorry, I was just trying to tell you that your fans love your skills," Gajeel raised up his hands.

"No, you're fine, it's just that," Totomaru paused, letting out a frustrated sigh as he ran one of his hands through his hair.

"There's another reason why you don't sing, is there?" Gajeel asked.

"No," Totomaru shook his head. Gajeel stared at Totomaru, who shivered slightly at the awkward staring contest. "Fine, yes." He admitted.

"What is it?" Gajeel questioned, raising an eyebrow. Surely it couldn't be that bad.

"You'll think it's childish," Totomaru protested, looking away.

"I think it's childish that you're not telling me," Gajeel shot back.

"You're not gonna make me do this, are you?" Totomaru asked, looking at Gajeel from the corner of his eyes. Gajeel simply crossed his arms. Totomaru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're gonna make me do this. Fine."

"Gihi," Gajeel smirked.

"Can it, tin can," Totomaru hissed, getting Gajeel to shut up. "A few years back, I went to the venue that we're performing at. I had some drinks and got drunk, no big deal. My memory from that night is kind of foggy, but I had a karaoke battle with some pink-haired guy and he won. By a long shot. it's kind of embarrassing to think about even to this day."

Gajeel was silent for a few moments, resisting the urge to burst out laughing. Totomaru's story wasn't childish, it was funny as shit. "That's it?" Gajeel asked, keeping a steely resolve.

Totomaru nodded. "Yeah."

"When I was younger, I was absolute shit at singing." Gajeel blurted out.

Totomaru's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What does this have to do with my story?!" He asked, bewildered at the random statement.

"Shut the hell up for a second, would ya?" Gajeel retorted, a tick mark appearing on his forehead. "I would get told every day that I sucked ass at singing, and that I would never amount for anything. I didn't give a shit about what they thought, though, so I kept practicing and now look at me. Lead singer of a pretty popular band. Don't let some random pink-haired idiot, or anyone for that matter, knock you down. Plus, you were out of it- I bet you could easily kick his ass sober."

Totomaru sighed, laughing slightly. "Thanks, Gajeel. You always come through in the most unexpected ways."

"What was that?!" Gajeel barked, glaring at Totomaru.

"I meant it as a compliment, you bozo." Totomaru laughed.

"Good." Gajeel nodded. "And who knows, maybe he might be there when we perform." He added.

"Hah," Totomaru snorted. "No way,"

"You could rub it in his face~" Gajeel wiggled his studded eyebrows. "I know you'd want to flex on him."

"I would love to flex on him." Totomaru agreed. Gajeel's phone suddenly buzzed twice. "I'll get that," Totomaru grabbed Gajeel's phone. If his eyes didn't pop out of his head early, they sure did now. "Holy shit why do you have so many emojis next to this one person?" He burst out laughing, holding out the phone to Gajeel.

Gajeel swiped the phone out of Totomaru's hands. "I paid for the whole phone so I'm gonna use the whole phone," He grumbled, looking at the notification. It was two texts from Levy. One was a picture and the other one was a message, _I ran into these two earlier today and now we're friends again! I'm so happy!_

Gajeel opened to the messages, looking at the picture. It was Levy, posing with two random guys. _What the hell? _Gajeel thought to himself, a wave of emotion rushing over him. It wasn't jealousy, no, Gajeel was _never _jealous. _Who are those two losers? _Gajeel texted back.

_Jet and Droy! My childhood besties! _Levy replied after a few seconds.

Gajeel huffed. _Weren't those the two cowards who left you for your old friends?_

"Wait, who are you texting?" Totomaru questioned, still laughing about all of the emojis. He grabbed his water bottle and opened it, deciding to take a drink to stop his excessive laughter.

"My girlfriend." Gajeel answered.

Totomaru spit out his water. "Your _what?!_" He exclaimed. He looked down at his now soaked KISS shirt. "Oh, dammit, sorry guys."

"Who the hell apologizes to their shirt?" Gajeel questioned, holding back some laughter of his own.

"I do, now tell me when the hell you got a girlfriend. And why was one of the emojis next to her name a shrimp emoji?" Totomaru questioned, starting to laugh again. "What the actual fuck, who told you that was okay?" He wheezed, clutching his stomach from laughter.

"She's tiny, so I call her shrimp." Gajeel stated as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Everyone's tiny compared to you, Gajeel." Totomaru was still laughing.

"She's four foot ten, Totomaru." Gajeel deadpanned.

Totomaru blinked. "She's four foot ten, and you're six foot four?" He asked, snickering to himself. "That's gotta hurt," He mumbled to himself.

"What was that?" Gajeel barked. He obviously heard what Totomaru said. "Say it louder, I dare you."

"Nothing," Totomaru was cackling at this point, having the time of his life.

"That's what I thought." Gajeel turned his attention back to his phone.

Levy had responded. _Yeah, but they apologized and we made up! Jet even bought me something!_

Gajeel snorted. "Who the fuck does he think he is," He thought out loud, typing a reply. _Cool. _Was all Gajeel replied.

"Um, everything alright?" Totomaru asked, slightly concerned for his friend.

"Yeah." Gajeel lied.

"The fact that you literally just asked 'who the fuck does he think he is' and not to mention the fact that you looked more pissed than usual tells me otherwise." Totomaru protested.

"I said that out loud?" Gajeel asked.

Totomaru nodded. "Yeah. You did. Now, mind telling me what happened?"

"Some old friends of hers who left her in her time of need suddenly popped back into their life." Gajeel summed up the situation to Totomaru, not wanting to go in depth. "One of them even bought her something as an apology."

Totomaru was silent for a moment, contemplating the situation in his head. "Wait, Gajeel, are you…"

"Don't even say it." Gajeel huffed.

A wicked smile made it's way across Totomaru's face. "Is somebody _jealous_?" He teased his burly friend.

"I think the fuck not!" Gajeel barked. "I could easily beat his ass to a pulp, anyways." He crossed his arms.

"Gajeel, if, what was her name, Levy?" He asked. Gajeel nodded. "If Levy, in her right mind, will willingly be your girlfriend, then I'm pretty sure that she must _really _like you, and won't just leave you for an old friend of hers."

"Hey!" Gajeel twitched at Totomaru's insult. He sighed in defeat. "Insult aside, thank you, I guess. I've never really been in a situation like this, so I wouldn't know what to think."

"Wait, you've never dated anyone before?" Totomaru asked, raising an eyebrow. "No way,"

"Do you really think someone would _willingly be my girlfriend?_" Gajeel shot back, mocking Totomaru's words from earlier.

"I was just joking about that, sorry," Totomaru apologized. "But I never knew you never had a girlfriend until now."

"Well now ya know," Gajeel huffed. "Wait," He paused, realization striking him. "You're one to talk! How come you're single and you're acting as if you know everything about relationships?!"

"Me being single is a matter of choice," Totomaru replied back calmly.

"Bitch, please," Gajeel laughed. "You're all bark and no bite. Have _you _even dated anyone before?"

"Duh," Totomaru answered. "I've dated two girls and one guy."

"Tsk, Tsk. I always knew you were sus," Gajeel snickered.

"It didn't work out, anyways," Totomaru shot back.

"Hey, chill, I'm just teasing you. You know I don't give a shit about who's ass you eat." Gajeel chuckled.

"Ew!" Totomaru cringed. "I don't eat ass, thank you very much."

"Whatever floats your boat," Gajeel shrugged. "I'm gonna go give my girlfriend a visit."

"Alright, have fun." Totomaru grabbed his bag. "Thank you for today, I learned a lot."

"Don't you even think ab-"

"For starters, I learned that you're just a big softie," Totomaru cooed.

"Fuck off," Gajeel growled, flicking Totomaru off. He left the little storage room as he heard Totomaru roar with laughter behind him.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Friday is my last day of school! Wooo! I got a 92 on my spanish final today! Double Wooo! And not to mention I also did spectacular at my piano recital on sunday! Triple Wooo! I wish these chapters could be longer, but with exams piling up in this final week, I hope that these will suffice! Like said last chapter, I promise that I'll go back and fix any chapters that are under 2.5k words! I'll try and bump them up around 2.5k as best as I can! I'll also publish some new stories and oneshots, so look out for that! I actually have a NaLu oneshot that's pretty much ready to be added to the site, but I haven't had time to type it up (I wrote it in english class for a free-write!), so I promise to get that out after school's out.**

**A little something before I shoutout my reviewers, I'd like to know from you readers, what kind of story would you like to see? I'd love to hear from you! I already have a handful of ideas, but I'd love to find out what you'd want to see as well! Who knows, they say great minds think alike, so maybe we might have some similar ideas! Shoutout to the review squad, Juviafullbuster1, Ushindeshi, aliciacevbra, and LordofAnimeCrap for reviewing! I'd also like to give a shoutout to Glitterellife for reviewing as well! Without your reviews, we wouldn't be where we are right now- so I truly thank you with all of my heart!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Jellal_

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fernandes!" The cheery purple-haired receptionist greeted, seeing one of the CEOs walk into the building.

Jellal nodded at the young receptionist. "Kinana, you can drop the formalities and call me Jellal. The same goes for the others as well." He told her.

"Sorry!" Kinana apologized. "How have you been, Mr. Jellal?" She asked.

"I've been fairly good. How about you?" Jellal asked.

Kinana smiled brightly at Jellal. "I've been good."

"Have you got your memory back yet?" Jellal asked.

Before she had started working here, Kinana had lost a lot of her memories. She was unable to remember why she lost her memories, but she was still grateful that it could've been worse. Kinana shook her head. "No, not yet." She frowned slightly, before the smile that was on her face earlier returned. "I will someday though, right?"

"Right." Jellal nodded. "Do you know where Ultear and Meredy are?" He asked.

"Yes," Kinana nodded, looking back to an open email on her computer. "Ms. Ful-" Kinana paused, realizing her mistake and quickly correcting herself. "Ms. Ultear and Ms. Meredy are waiting for you in office 24, sir." She informed Jellal.

"Thank you," Jellal nodded, walking through the corridors of Crime Sorciere. It didn't take long for him to arrive. He opened the office door, seeing Ultear and Erik sitting normally in the little office room. Meredy, however, was spinning on her chair. She stopped immediately when she saw Jellal. "Hi!" She exclaimed.

Jellal smiled at Meredy. "Hey, Meredy." He greeted, taking a seat in the office room. "Hello, Ultear, Erik." He nodded at the other two.

"Hey," Erik nodded back.

"Glad you could make it, Jellal." Ultear shot Jellal a calm smile. "Now, I believe we can start," She turned her gaze on Erik.

"Yes," Jellal nodded. "Tell us, what's bothering you?" He asked. Erik bit his lip, contemplating what to say. He attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, but it only came back more prominently than before. "Well?" Jellal prodded after a minute of silence.

Erik gripped the arm of his chair. He felt as if the world was closing in on him, but he couldn't spit it out. "Well, it's just that…" He started, racking his mind for the right way to express himself.

Jellal wasn't the type to grow impatient, but the curiosity was killing him after minutes of silence. "As much as we wish we did, we don't have all day to wait around, Erik."

"Sorry," Erik mumbled, looking down in shame. He cursed his incompetence for his lack of ability to muster up the proper words.

Ultear opened her mouth to speak, but Meredy rested her hand on Ultear's forearm. "Wait a second," The pink-haired teen whispered to her mom. She turned to Erik, moving her arm from Ultear's arm to rest it gently on the redhead's stiff shoulder. "Hey," She cooed, carefully going through her word choice in her mind. "It's okay, Erik. We're here for you, you can tell us." She waited a few moments after not seeing any response from Erik. "I know; it's hard, isn't it?" She asked, causing him to glance up at her from the corner of his eyes. "Confiding in three total strangers is no easy feat- it takes a lot of courage to even tell us that something's wrong. We wouldn't say we're here for you if we didn't mean it, Erik." She smiled softly. "Please, we want to help you."

Erik looked back down at his lap, his body trembling slightly. His steady resolve slowly started to crumble, and without warning her suddenly buried his face in his hands, which wasn't quite what the other three in the room were expecting. "I can't take this anymore!" He exclaimed, his voice cracking as tears slipped through his palms and down his chin. "When I committed my crime, my girlfriend was there to witness it all, and I haven't seen her since," He confessed. "Until… Until I came here. Everywhere I look, I _see her _right there. She doesn't even notice that I'm there, it's like we're complete strangers!" He sobbed, his body wracking with sobs. "I can't take it!" He clutched his head tightly, his nails sinking into his hairline.

Meredy got up from her chair, walking over to Erik and hugging him softly. Erik accepted the kind gesture, crying onto Meredy's shirt. "I would've accepted any punishment other than to see her every day without getting to tell her how much I love her…" He mumbled, crying harder.

Ultear frowned, feeling empathy towards the young man. The pain of losing someone was far too familiar to her, and she could only begin to imagine how it felt to have someone so close to you yet so far away.

Jellal blinked. Yeah, of course, he felt bad for Erik- but now he was even more puzzled. Who was he talking about? "Who is he talking about?" Jellal whispered to Ultear, watching Erik and Meredy in confusion.

"I have no idea," Ultear answered, copying his tone of voice. "Maybe she works here?" She cleared her throat. "Who are you speaking of?" Ultear asked Erik, her voice loud enough for him to hear.

"I-It pains me to even s-say her name…" Erik cried, his voice still slightly muffled by Meredy's embrace.

Meredy sighed, looking at Ultear and Jellal with a raised brow. "Isn't it obvious?" She asked.

"No?" Ultear and Jellal replied simultaneously.

Meredy sighed once more. "You old people are so simple-minded." She turned her attention back to Erik. "Erik, as bizarre as it might seem, she doesn't ignore you on purpose."

Erik lifted up his head, his eyes red and cheeks puffy from his crying. "How would you know?" He spat. "You don't even know who she is."

Meredy shook her head. "I do, Erik." She assured him. "Erik, Kinana lost her memory."

Erik froze, his eyes widening. "H-how did you-" He stammered, choking on his words.

"She lost her memory from around the time you committed the murder," Meredy explained. "Memory loss due to trauma. She doesn't know that you have history with her, Erik."

The other three in the room were speechless. How was Meredy able to deduce that with such little information? Ultear and Jellal looked towards Erik to see if Meredy was right.

Erik inhaled shakily, a frown encompassing his face. "She doesn't remember anything about me?" He asked, feeling his heart shatter.

Meredy shook her head. "Not necessarily. Her memory's still in there," She tapped her temple. "It's locked away, though."

Erik nodded. He turned to face Ultear and Jellal, a desperate look in his eyes. "Please, you have to help me get her back," He pleaded. "She's the reason why I'm here- I'd do anything for her, but I don't know where to start…" He trailed off, looking down in shame. "Without her I'm nothing."

Jellal looked towards Ultear and Meredy. Meredy smiled hopefully at the blue-haired man, and Ultear simply nodded. Jellal turned his gaze back to Erik. "Of course we'll help you, Erik." He watched Erik released the breath that he was holding. "Though, Ultear, Meredy, and I need a little bit of time to talk to one another, if you don't mind,"

"Of course not," Erik promptly got up from his chair, heading towards the door. He paused, his hand resting on the doorknob. He looked back at the three from the corner of his eye. "Thank you," He mumbled, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Once the door clicked shut, Jellal turned his head to Meredy. "Okay, first off, how in the world were you able to find that out?" He asked, the disbelief evident in his tone.

Meredy shrugged. "It just kind of came to me," She admitted.

Ultear sighed, resting her arms on the armrests of the chair. "Even as a child, you always possessed an incredible trait of empathy towards others, but this is just straight up mind reading. Its as if you could feel his soul or something."

Meredy tilted her head in confusion. "I could, though. It really pained him when he thought that she was intentionally ignoring him. Could you two not feel that?" She asked.

Ultear shook her head, chuckling. "You really are something else, child."

Meredy waved off Ultear's statement. "Enough about me, we have to help Erik!" She exclaimed. "Maybe we could set them up on a date?" She suggested, her eyes lighting up.

Ultear blinked. "You can't be serious." She turned to Jellal. "Please tell me she's joking."

Jellal shrugged. "I see nothing wrong with her idea." He admitted. "I don't know anything about this kind of stuff, though, so I shouldn't be the person you go to."

Ultear sighed, facepalming. "You really don't know anything." She grumbled. "You're straight, right?" She asked.

"What does that h-" Jellal started, only to be interrupted.

"Yes or no." Ultear sharply interjected.

"Erm, yes, but this information is relevant _how_?" Jellal questioned.

"After this, we need to set you up on a date," Ultear sighed.

Meredy squealed. "Yay! We're gonna set Jellal up on a date!" She cheered.

Jellal inhaled. "I don't think-" He cut himself off, deciding to just drop the subject altogether. "We should focus on Erik now, not me."

Ultear nodded. "He is right about that. And as for you," She turned her head to Meredy. "There are many things wrong with your plan."

"Awww, no date?" Meredy asked, pouting.

"No date," Ultear confirmed. "Yet," She added, which caused Meredy's eyes to light up in excitement. "If they were to go on a date now, then Kinana might not like him, and that's the last thing we want. They need to talk a little first, and maybe that might help spark her memory. If it doesn't, then we can try the date alternative. Got it?" She asked.

Meredy nodded excitedly. "Got it!" She chirped. "Talk first, then date!"

"Why are you so obsessed with dates?" Jellal asked.

A sinister grin appeared on Meredy's face. "You're next, buddy," She chuckled evilly.

Jellal got up, alarmed at Meredy's sudden change in behavior. "I don't think we should keep Erik waiting any longer," He said, hurriedly making his way to the door. He sighed to himself. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't help but think that maybe they were right. After all, they had only been trying to get him a date for god knows how long. Jellal couldn't help but feel scared though. Someday he'd have to open up about his past, and what if his partner didn't accept him? Shaking away his fear, he decided that there were more important matters at hand. "Are you two ready?" He asked, looking back at them.

Ultear and Meredy got up, walking to stand next to Jellal. "Yep!" Meredy chirped.

"Of course we are," Ultear answered.

"Good." Jellal smiled at them, before opening the door and heading out into the hallway with his two close friends to talk about their plan to the patiently waiting Erik.


	28. Chapter 28

**Author's Note: Woohoo! Friday is the last day of school for me! I'm hanging out with my friend as well! I can't wait! I had this chapter idea for a while, so I was really hype while writing! It's kind of long though, so I have to split it up! And honestly, I kind of threw in the last part as a last minute change. It works, though, so we're living- I went from five reviewers per recent chap to one reviewer for this chapter lmaoooo I had to do a double take at first. It's fine though because I've been busy lately, so these chapters are shorter and have lower quality than I'd like- and if I'm busy with school coming to an end then I wouldn't be surprised if you readers were too. _Big _shoutout to our lone reviewer, aliciacevbra! Thank you so much, Alicia! I truly appreciate hearing from you every time! You're so kind, I always look forward to your reviews! :D To all you other readers out there, please review! I'd love to hear your input!**

**Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

_Lisanna_

"What's going on here?" A voice asked, causing Lisanna and Azuma to look up from their argument. Standing before them was Lisanna's best friend, Natsu, with his arms crossed and a confused expression on his face.

Lisanna mentally sighed in relief as Azuma moved away from her. "Nothing," He hissed. "I'm gonna wait at the car," He told Lisanna, storming off and turning down the hall.

Natsu went up to Lisanna. "Is everything alright?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Lisanna nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." She answered him.

"What were you two talking about?" Natsu questioned.

Lisanna shook her head, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing important."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "He was pretty much yelling at you."

"Oh," Lisanna laughed awkwardly. "You know how he can get,"

"If you think that he's an asshole and possessive, then yeah," Natsu snorted. "I know how he can get."

"Natsu!" Lisanna exclaimed. "He's actually really nice once you get to know him." She tried to defend her boyfriend.

Natsu put his hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "I'm not the fool I used to be, Lisanna. And you're not fooling anyone." He told her. "Not even yourself."

Lisanna sighed in defeat, resting her hand on top of Natsu's. She looked down at her shoes, averting her gaze from Natsu's onyx eyes. "Oh, who am I kidding?" She asked herself, shaking her head.

"Why are you still dating him?" Natsu asked, genuinely confused.

"I," Lisanna paused, thinking of a proper answer to Natsu's question. "I don't know," She admitted. "I just can't bring myself to break up with him,"

"Do you need my help?" Natsu asked.

"Huh?" Lisanna blinked.

"Do you want me to help you break up with him?" Natsu repeated. "You know I'm here for you,"

"Thank you, Natsu, but no." Lisanna shook her head. "I must do this by myself."

Natsu frowned. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Lisanna nodded, a confident glint in her eyes. "Positive!" She gave Natsu a thumbs up.

Natsu sighed doubtedly, taking his hand off of her shoulder and sticking it in his pocket. "If you say so. I'm gonna head to the lab, see ya tomorrow?" He asked, smiling at his friend.

Lisanna grinned. "See you tomorrow!" She waved, before heading off to Azuma's car.

The car ride between the two of them was silent due to the argument that they had a few minutes prior. When they got to his house, Azuma stormed off to his room. Lisanna sighed to herself. She didn't know how she was going to tell Azuma this. She thought that they could talk about it over dinner, which was exactly what she was going to do- make them what would probably be the last dinner that the two of them would share

Lisanna felt that their relationship wasn't working out well, and that maybe it'd be best if they took a break and saw other people. She didn't want to leave Azuma, but his controlling tendencies and the warning from his friends had convinced her otherwise.

Lisanna rubbed her temple, looking down at the pan that she had retrieved. As she was contemplating her words, she heard a sharp ching, followed by some footsteps. "Hm?" She turned back slightly, looking behind her before something sharp pierced through her shoulder.

Lisanna let out a shrill scream, looking down at her shoulder. There was a kitchen knife wedged into her skin. She looked up in fear to see Azuma standing over her, the knife in his hands. "Shit," He mumbled under his breath, angrily looking at the knife.

Azuma quickly pulled the bloody knife out of Lisanna's shoulder, watching as she stumbled back against the counter slightly. "No one leaves me and gets away!" He growled, raising the knife again.

Lisanna ducked out of the way, the knife slicing through the air. Lisanna made a break for the door, Azuma on her tail. "Get back here!" He yelled, running after her. As she passed a shelf, she knocked off some items, causing Azuma to stumble over the various items.

Lisanna hastily opened the door, slamming it behind her as she ran down the hall of the apartment complex. She slid around the corner, running up to the door that led to the stairs. She quickly opened the door, running down the stairs as best as she could. They were on the third floor, which, at the moment, sounded much better than being on the tenth floor.

Getting to the bottom floor, she ran behind the stairs and exited outside of the complex into the parking lot instead of entering the lobby. Lisanna hissed in pain, holding her bloody shoulder as she heaved for air. She looked around for anything that could help her escape when she saw a motorcycle with the key still in.

She ran to the motorcycle, hoping that the owner wasn't nearby. She looked at motorcycle and gulped- she didn't know how to ride a motorcycle- she didn't even know how to drive in general- but considering that her murderous boyfriend was chasing her, she had no choice but to learn.

"Hey!" Someone shouted. She looked up to see a middle-aged guy. "That's my motorcycle!"

"I'm sorry!" Lisanna apologized. "I have no time left!" She pushed the pedal and clutched the handles, zooming forward. She heard the door from the apartment complex opens and slam closed behind her, and from the rear-view mirror, she saw Azuma starting to run towards her, the bloody knife in his hands. She saw that the man had seen the knife and pulled out his phone, but couldn't tell what happened after because she had driven too far ahead.

Lisanna drove out of the parking lot onto the main streets of Magnolia, praying that she wouldn't hit anyone. She made her way onto the main street without checking to see if anyone else was driving, which resulted in some honks. Lisanna drove in between lines of traffic, zooming by the other cars. Everything around her was dizzy and slightly blurry, she didn't know where she was heading- all she knew was that she had to get out.

After driving for who knows how long, the motorcycle started to slow down, its tank reaching empty. Lisanna pulled up to the side of the road, black dots starting to cloud her vision. Lisanna craned her neck to look at the road, but there was no one in sight for as far as she could see. She turned her head to look at her shoulder, cringing at the gruesome sight.

The stab wound was still bleeding, the slowly drying blood from earlier had caked her shirt in a deep maroon. There was an immense pain that came with a stiffness. Lisanna took her other arm out from her shirt sleeve, grabbing the shoulder of her sleeve and trying to rip the fabric apart. She groaned in pain, the movement of her injured shoulder sending a sharp stinging throughout her body. After a minute, she let go of the sleeve, unsuccessful. Lisanna put her arm back through the sleeve.

Suddenly, the black dots became more predominant in her vision. Starting to feel lightheaded, Lisanna swayed slightly. Her eyelids started to droop, and with some incoherent mumbling, she fell to the ground alongside the stolen motorcycle.

* * *

Lisanna slowly opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling above her. _Wait a second, ceiling? Where was she? _Lisanna tried sitting up but her body ached in protest. She clenched her teeth at a sharp pain in her shoulder. Slowly, her blue eyes turned to look at her shoulder. Her eyes widened in realization as she remembered what had happened earlier. Her shoulder-wound was now covered up in bandages. Her eyes trailed down her arm, looking at her bare arm. Her shirt sleeve wasn't there.

Lisanna looked down at her torso to see that her whole shirt was missing, and she was only clad in a bra from the waist up. There was a dark blue blanket on top of her, but she could that her jeans were still on. Lisanna wriggled her toes- her shoes were off, and so were her socks. At this point, Lisanna was only certain of one thing. She wasn't at a hospital.

"I see you're awake, girlie," A masculine voice caused Lisanna to let out a shrill shriek, flinching at the unexpected voice. Her body groaned in protest, causing her to close her eyes and let out a small whimper. "Woah there, girlie. Don't wanna make any sudden movements now, do we?" The unfamiliar voice asked.

Lisanna hesitantly opened her eyes, her eyes staring at where the voice was coming from. There stood a tan guy with a large black tattoo on his face in the shape of a stick figure. He had a dark blue mohawk with dark blue tufts of hair above his ears. There was almost-shaven black hair in between the tufts of hair and the mohawk. The man's dark red eyes which almost looked onyx stared at Lisanna, a slight smirk on his face. Despite the strange tattoo and the strange haircut, he looked rather dashing.

"Where's my shirt?" Lisanna asked, her voice weaker than she intended it to be.

"In the wash- it's all bloody." The man answered as if it were obvious. "I know how to get blood out of anything. And also, I gotta say, cute bra. I think a purple bow would suit you better than gray, though." He winked at her, sticking out his tongue slightly to reveal a tongue piercing.

Lisanna's cheeks heated up in a fervent blush. "Who even are you?" She asked, trying to lift up the covers in an attempt to cover herself.

"I'm Bixlow." He answered.

"Bixlow….?" Lisanna questioned.

"Woah there, girlie, we ain't on last-name basis yet," Bixlow laughed. "Though, I feel flattered. Could I get ya name?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Lisanna…" Lisanna answered, blinking in confusion.

"What a cute name for a cute lil bunny like you," Bixlow teased, winking.

"Um… Who are you?" Lisanna asked.

"I already said- I'm Bixlow." Bixlow answered.

Lisanna shook her head. "No, I mean _who are you? _And how do you know how to get blood out of clothing?"

"Woah there, babe, I'm afraid I can't tell ya." Bixlow laughed against. "You don't mess around, do ya now?" He asked.

"Well, can at least tell me where we are?" Lisanna asked. "Magnolia, right?"

"Oh, no, honey," Bixlow laughed, shaking his head. "We ain't in Magnolia."

"Then, where are we?" Lisanna asked.

"Let's just say, we ain't in the sunniest place on earth," Bixlow answered. "Though you're in my territory now, and ain't nobody gonna fuck with us here."

"Territory?" Lisanna asked.

"I don't think I stuttered." Bixlow replied. His facial expression changed to a more serious one. "Look, girlie, I see you're not from here, right?"

Lisanna nodded. "I'm from Magnolia- that's why I asked."

"Then what was a lil girlie like you doing out cold on the streets, stab wound and all?" Bixlow questioned.

"My boyfriend-" Lisanna paused, shaking her head. "No, my ex," She corrected herself. "Was starting to get more controlling, so I decided to break up with him. Big mistake, because he… he tried to… kill me… when he found out I was gonna break up with him." She blinked, processing her words.

"Ooo!" Bixlow cooed in excitement, nodding. "Continue!"

"I ran out of the apartment complex and I hopped on some random motorcycle, driving as far away as possible, and then I ended up where…"

"Where I found ya? On the side of the road?" Bixlow asked, excited.

Lisanna nodded. "Yeah." Her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, why am I telling you this?!" She exclaimed.

"Woo!" Bixlow cheered. "Now that's fucking crazy, especially coming from a girlie like you."

"I'm seventeen!" Lisanna protested. "I'm not a girlie!"

"Aww, how cute." Bixlow laughed. "I can't tell ya how old I am, but I am close to ya age. Ain't that something?"

"Why are you being so secretive?" Lisanna asked.

Bixlow looked out the window, turning his gaze back to Lisanna. "Do ya really wanna know, girlie?" He asked. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"I think I deserve to know." Lisanna confirmed.

Bixlow sighed, cracking his neck. "I'm Bixlow, a proud member of the Raijinshū Mafia. And now that ya know of it, welcome to the squad!" He winked, sticking out his tongue.


End file.
